Realizations
by Evisawesome
Summary: Lily Evans beginning her last year at Hogwarts, and she wants to make it a good one. Through the year, she gets her wish... though maybe not the way she expected. LE/JP with a little OC/SB. I tried to make it as Book-accurate as possible.  on hold, probably forever.
1. Hogwarts Express

DISCLAIMER: **I do not own Harry Potter, or any of the Characters, Settings, Story Plots, or accessories thereof. **

_Note: Hope you enjoy. Just a little fanfic that I felt like writing. I've been reading like 5 billion HP fanfics a day, so I figured I'd write my own, fill in holes that I'd found, etc. Please Review. Also, note that I tried to make this as accurate as possible. (Thank gods for the Harry Potter Wiki!) If I failed at all in this respect, please let me know. I pride myself on accuracy. _

Lily got on the train, waved good-bye to her parents, one last time, and headed down the train, lugging her bag.

"Lily!" cried one of her friends, Mary Macdonald.

Lily headed toward her brunette, rosy-cheeked friend, and entered the compartment. She saw that her other friends were there, too; Alice, plump and brown haired, sitting by the window. Sofia, a vivacious blond with snapping green eyes sat across from her. Next to Alice was Eleanor, who despite her cute-sy name had black hair that she wore in her face and pronounced opinions that she shared with anybody who asked (and quite a few who didn't ask.)

"Get in here!" beckoned Sofia, bouncing out of her seat to help Lily shove her suitcase onto the rack, next to Alice's.

"How was your summer, Lily?" asked Alice.

"Fine. Petunia got a summer job, so I could do my homework in peace." Said Lily, sitting next to Mary, across from the remaining empty seat.

"I can't believe it's our last year!" exclaimed Mary.

"Yeah." Said Lily. "N.E.W.T. year."

"Aw, c'mon, Lily," Whined Sofia, reaching behind Mary to nudge Lily. "N.E.W.T.s are only one little part of this year. Let's enjoy it!"

"If we don't know the material, stressing isn't going to help us." Eleanor, who was lounging across two seats, agreed with her best friend.

"Do you think they'll be hard?" fretted Alice, who was a nervous test taker.

Eleanor gave Alice a look of pity.

"Of course. They're N.E.-"

"I'm sure they're not as bad as they sound." Put in Mary for Alice's benefit.

The train jolted just then, and Lily's suitcase crashed to the floor, narrowly missing hitting Eleanor on the head.

"Karma!" laughed Sofia, kneeling down to help Lily re-pack her scattered clothes and books.

"Yeah. Sorry, Alice." amended Eleanor, glaring at her best friend.

"Damn.' Swore Lily, examining the binding on her several year old copy of _Hogwarts, a History_, which was already falling apart. She carefully replaced it, and was re-folding a light blue camisole when the door to their compartment swung open.

"Al right, Evens?" asked the voice of the last person she wanted to see now, or ever.

Okay, she amended to herself. There were probably people she hated more than James Potter. There was always You-Know-Who, of course, And Sev- Snape. But she didn't have time to think right now, because James Potter, one of her top three most despised people, was standing there, holding one of her bras and grinning immaturely.

"Give me that!" She snapped, snatching for it, but Potter was several inches taller than her, and he held it up, teasingly.

"Go out with me, Evans?" he asked for the billionth time.

Lily was mad. No, not mad. Furious. She glared at Potter.

"No. For the last time, No!"

"So does that mean that the next time I ask, you answer will be 'yes'?"

"No!" shrieked Lily, her wand out.

"Accio!" The undergarment came soaring toward her, and landed neatly in her trunk.

"You asked her out, didn't you?" Sirius Black was leaning against their doorway, as nonchalantly handsome as ever. "Bad luck, Prongs. Maybe she'll say yes next time. Five thousand and first time lucky?" he grinned, and Lilly thought she heard Sofia give a sharp intake of breath.

"Shove off, Black." Eleanor told her ex. Like many, she had gone out with Sirius, and was now immune to his charms.

Lily's wand was still out. She used it to levitate her bag firmly onto the rack.

"Anything from the trolley?" asked the trolley lady, pulling up behind the two boys.

"Yeah. I'll have—" Lily shut the door as James and Sirius turned their backs, and latched the door.

"Hey! I was going to get something!" protested Eleanor.

"Get it when Potter and Black leave." Advised Mary. "Lily's about to explode."

Indeed, Lily's face was red from shouting as she sat back and closed her eyes.

There was a knocking at the window. Lily looked up, and saw Potter holding up a cauldron cake and pointing in turn from it to Lilly.

Lily rolled her eyes and Alice giggled.

"He's sweet! I wish Frank had courted me like that!" referring to her boyfriend. They had gotten together at the beginning of last year, and were pretty much going steady.

"You have no idea how annoying it is when you're not interested, Al." Said Lily, ignoring Potter.

"But, why aren't you interested, Lily?" asked Alice.

"Yeah. Potters one of the hottest guys in our year." Agreed Sofia, grinning.

"Potter is an immature, arrogant, obnoxious—why are you laughing?" demanded Lily, as her friends burst into giggles.

"It's nothing—just—you—oh hahaha!" attempted Mary, giving into fits of hysteria.

There was another knock on the door. Lily whirled around, expecting to see Potter, and was disappointed to see that she was right.

Lily glared at him, but Potter grinned and pointed to a badge on his robe. It said HB.

Lily swore again. His badge matched the one on her robes—she had changed as she got on the train.

Lily got up and opened the door, closing it on another wave of giggles.

Potter grinned and tried to take her arm. She snatched it away and stalked toward the Prefect's box. Angry at herself, for forgetting that she had to brief the Prefects with the Head Boy, angry that said Head Boy was James Potter, and angry at her friends, for embarrassing her like that.

"Alright." She growled between clenched teeth as they reached the Prefects box.

"Just tell them that they have to patrol the hallways in shifts, to be decided and posted within a day and set them loose on the hallways." She muttered an improvised plan to Potter.

"Sounds good." He said, cheerfully.

Lily took a breath and opened the door.

"Welcome, Prefects. Here's the plan…" she announced.

When Lily was done briefing the prefects, and Potter was done lounging in a chair and staring at her, she waited until all the prefects had exited, threw a glare in Potter's direction—he was ruffling his hair, as usual—and turned on her heel with a humph.

When she got back to her compartment, she found that her friends had made their visit to the candy trolley. They were munching on Every Flavor Beans and Licorice Wands.

When Lily entered, Alice tittered a bit, but from the look that Eleanor gave her, the joke was getting old. In Lily's opinion, the joke had been old before it had started.

"How'd it go? Asked Eleanor.

"It could have been worse. Head Boy could have been… say… Mulciber." Lily glanced at Mary, whose eyes flashed. Mulciber had hexed her pretty badly a few years ago, and would have gotten away with it, but had mysteriously come down with chronic boils that no one seemed to be able to get rid of. (Lily suspected that Eleanor and Sofia were behind it, but had never brought it up.)

The subject was quickly dropped, and they continued to talk, Lily leaned back and chewed on a licorice wand. Yes... there were worse people in the world than Potter.


	2. Classes and Duties

DISCLAIMER: **I do not own Harry Potter, or any of the Characters, Settings, Story Plots, or accessories thereof. **

Note: I'm sort of on a roll here, but don't expect too many regular updates: School starts soon, I have travel planned, and I'm a known procrastinator. Reviews encouraged.

Lily and her friends got in a carriage and rolled toward the great hall. When they got there, they sat down and waited expectantly. Soon, Professor McGonagall led a group of nervous-looking first years to the front of the great hall, and the sorting begun. Lily clapped as Gregory, Zeller was sorted into Gryffindor.

The clapping continued as Dumbledore stood.

"I'd like to say a few words, but I don't think I will yet. Dig in!"

And with that, the golden plates filled with food, and the feast began. Lily ate appreciatively. Even if she used magic, she would never be able to make food as tasty as the Hogwarts kitchens did. Lily stopped after a second helping, too full to eat any more.

When Dumbledore dismissed them, Lily and her friends walked to the common room.

"Puffskien" she told the fat lady, and the portrait swung open to reveal the familiar common room.

Lily was tired, so she decided to head straight to bed; maybe she could unpack and have a last look at that essay she had written for Transfiguration.

She was feeling quite happy after the feast, but was in no mood to be bothered.

"Hey, Evans! Go out with me?" yelled Potter from across the room. Lily ignored him and kept going, her mood turning sour.

"Not. On. Your. Life." She muttered, starting up the stairs and immediately getting ready for bed.

She fell asleep with a slight scowl on her face.

The next day at breakfast, McGonagall was handing out schedules. Lily looked at hers; She had Potions right off, then, after a free period, she had Transfiguration. Charms was after lunch, followed by another free, Defense against the Dark Arts, and dinner.

"Evans, please meet me in my office before the start of your first class. I'm sure Professor Slughorn won't mind if two of his students miss the first part of his class.

Two of his students, so that was one class that she would have to spend in the vicinity of James Potter.

As McGonagall moved on, Lily glanced at her friends.

"Tough luck, Lily." Eleanor gave her a small shove.

"Are all of you taking potions?"

"Alice and I are." Said Mary, checking Alice's schedule over her shoulder as their plump friend talked to Frank Longbottom.

"I am." Said Eleanor.

"Wouldn't miss it." Joked Sofia.

At least I'll have friends with me, Lily thought.

"…As Head Boy and Head Girl, you are expected to set up a patrolling schedule with the prefects, which you two are to lead, organize, and participate in. You are also expected to be a role model…" McGonagall looked straight at Potter as she said this, who widened his eyes in innocence. "And be fair. You have been given the responsibility to give detentions and dock house points. Use that well."

Lily nodded. She could do all that.

They were facing McGonagall across her desk. She had lectured them about the duties of a head, and told them to choose a Hogsmead date for sometime that month.

"And now, I will take you to your class. Do you have any questions?"

When both students remained quiet, she nodded.

"In you go." She ordered when they came to the door of the Potions room.

"Ah, Lily. James. Come in." greeted Slughorn, standing up from behind his desk. Everyone in the classroom turned to look at them.

"Horace. Our Head Boy and Head Girl were just in a meeting with me. I'm sure you will excuse them." Said McGonagall.

"Of course, Minerva, of course. They are Head Boy and Head Girl, after all." Replied Slughorn, amiably.

"Good. Good day, Horace." And with that, she turned on her heel and left.

"Class, continue working, please." Said Slughorn, approaching Lily and James. "Lily, James, we've already chosen our seats for the year. You two will have to sit together. Behind Mr.'s Black and Lupin here would be fine."

James grinned at his friends when he sat down. Lily ignored him, but nodded to Lupin, who wasn't half bad. He didn't look too great. Lily wondered briefly if he was ill, but turned her attention to her potion. They were brewing an antidote for Sleeping Solution, a way to counter act the effects of the narcotic potion.

James glanced at his book and got to work on his Potion. As always, he did acceptably, but when Slughorn came around examining potions, it was Lily's he praised, as usual.

"Ah, Lily! Excellent as usual. This should wake someone up without any"—he glanced at James's potion, which was a maroon color to Lily's pale pink—"Side effects."

"Lily grinned as Slughorn moved on. The only person he ever praised as much as Lily was… Severus. She glanced over as Snape gathered his belongings. His long, greasy hair was falling over his face in lank strings.

"Hey, Evans!" asked James, "can I carry your books?"

"Shove off, Potter." She told him. "As Head Boy, you're supposed to set an example. Keep it professional."

Before she could embarrass herself, or have Potter embarrass her further, she left, walking quickly to catch up with her friends.

"Hey, Lily! How was your meeting with McGonagall?" asked Mary.

"Fine. I've got to make a schedule for patrolling with the Prefects." Said Lily, her mind on her duties, and figuring that she could take notes on the effects of counteracting a sleeping potion that evening, before she patrolled. She sat down in the common room, and drew out a blank sheet of parchment. She began dividing out the times.

"If they patrol in house pairs-" she muttered to herself… setting a quill to parchment.

"All right, Evans? Doing Homework on your first free period of the year?" Potter had come up behind her.

"Actually—I'm doing my head duties." She said, remembering that they should probably be doing this together.

"Without me?" asked Potter, plunking down across from her—she was relieved that he hadn't sat down beside her.

Lily flushed. "You seemed—busy?" she mumbled, then cleared her throat. "Anyways, I think I have a rough schedule. They'll patrol in pairs, one night a week. Then we'll do it the last night. The teachers can handle the weekends." She shoved the peace of parchment across the table at him.

He looked at it seriously for a moment, and then met her gaze. "Sounds good, Evans. I'll see you then." His voice was soft.

Potter stood up, and walked off.

Lily was confused and relieved that he had taken her earlier words seriously and kept it un-personal. Was that James Potter?

"Hey Evans, will you go out with me?" shouted Potter's voice from across the common room.

Lily almost grinned, but ignored him. That was the James Potter she knew.


	3. Rounds and UnProffessionalism

DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN HP!

Note: Lots of lovely people have been reading this. Fanfiction is now competing with Facebook for my inbox. That makes me happy inside. Please keep on reviewing, and subscribe if you haven't already!

Lily sat in the library, studying. It had been about a week since school had started, and she was loaded with Homework. Of course, Potter wasn't helping. He feigned dedication to their Head duties, but mostly just sat there and let her do all the work, occasionally asking her out. (Thankfully, he did it in private.)

"Lily, what are you still doing here?" Eleanor had come into the library, which was a rare occurrence in itself.

Despite being smart and training to work for Gringotts as a curse breaker, Eleanor rarely visited the library, except to play pranks on the people studying inside.

"What am I doing?" asked Lily, "What are you still doing? Usually you'd be running away from Madam Pince."

Madam Pince was the librarian. Although she was young—in her early thirties—she was stern and it was often said that she had gone crazy years ago.

"Oh, well… I'm just scouting today." Said Eleanor, casually, sitting down, "but you've been here for hours!"

Lily looked at her watch. It was almost time for her rounds! She started throwing quills, parchment, ink, and books into her bag, closed it, and rushed out of the library shouting

"Goodbye! Sorry, Madam Pince!"

"Goodbye, Lily!"

"Quiet in the library!"

"Sorry, Madam Pince!"

"Get OUT!"

Lily heard a _thwack _and running footsteps behind her, but she had no time to wait for her friend. She practically shouted the password at the Fat Lady, and leaped through the passage way, ran past Potter and his friends, waved Alice and Mary off as she deposited her things in the dormitory, straightened her Head Girl badge and ran back through the common room to meet Potter as he waved goodbye to his friends.

She tried to catch her breath for a second, looking up at Potter's hazel eyes and waiting for him to make a remark, but he just raised an eyebrow.

"Shall we go now?" he asked, and Lily nodded.

"You know, Evans, I think you spend too much time at the library. You know… Snivellous used to spend time in the library, too. Say, I wonder if madam Pince ever got the grease stains off the carpet."

"As opposed to what, spending time with you? I'd rather spend time with a troll!" Lily snapped, enraged that he had brought up the subject of Snape.

"Oooh, Not very professional, Evans. It's a two-way street, you know. Why do you always defend that slime ball?"

"You brought it up! It's your fault, you know! And now I can't decide who I hate more!" Lily hissed, her face turning bright red.

Potter looked at her for a moment. Lily thought, Oh no… he's going to…

"Go out with me, Evans?" Potter whispered.

"Never. Dream on Potter." She said, flatly, and stormed off down the hallway.

Neither spoke the rest of the evening.

Note: A really short chapter, I know. But I'm thinking of writing the next one from James's point of view. The 'deflating of the head' is going to come… Review and tell me what you think!


	4. Arguments or, the 1234 wd chapter!

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN HARRY POTTER, THE BOOKS, PLOTLINE, CHARACTERS, AWESOMENESS (UNFORTUNATELY) AND I DO NOT TAKE CREDIT FOR THE GENIUS THEREOF.

_Note: I had this brilliant idea for one more hate conversation. I think James is almost ready… I thought it would be fun to write a James chapter, but Lily needed the final word. It's about to get good…_

_Also, a big thanks/apology to __roflshvuakomail__ for pointing out that I've been spelling Lily wrong, though hit took a while to register! Expect better spelling in the future! Also, thanks to all of my other lovely reviewers and readers._

The next morning, Lily woke up in a dark mood. She did not want to have to put up with James Potter one more day.

"What happened last night, Lily?" asked Sofia as they headed down to breakfast.

"Potter." Lily growled, and Sofia looked sympathetic.

"Why do you hate him so much?" asked Sofia, looking concerned and amused.

Lily looked at her. "Because he's a git, Sof."

"Yeah, but he's a cute git. He's been asking you out for ages. Just say yes already!" urged Sof.

"I will never go out with that toe-rag." Lily stated, speeding up.

"Oh, come on, Lily. It was just a suggestion!"

Lily bit back a reply. Sofia was being a really good friend right now and she didn't want to throw that back in her face.

"You're right. Sorry."

"So you'll give Potter a shot?" asked Sofia, surprised.

Lily gave her a look of exasperation, and Sofia burst out laughing.

"I should have known!"

They arrived at the great hall.

Lily's day had been going a lot better after that. She had managed to ignore Potter all through Potions, and avoid him the rest of the time by spending her break in her dormitory and sitting on the other side of the classroom in Transfiguration. It was only after lunch, though, that he approached her.

"Hey, Evans!" shouted Sirius Black from sown the Charms corridor.

"What is it, Black?" she snapped.

She had never like Black any more than she had liked Potter. He was just as annoying and arrogant and immature, though she knew he was popular with the girls.

"James said to tell you that you're to have a head meeting with him right now in classroom 3B." He named an empty classroom.

Lily sighed. She supposed Potter wanted to plan the next Hogsmead trip and think of the Halloween decorations.

She brushed past Black and found classroom 3B.

"Evans." Greeted Potter, who was leaning back in a chair in the middle of the classroom, where the desks were pushed aside and two chairs sat facing each other over a table.

"Potter. What do you want?"

"To fulfill our duties as head Boy and Girl, of course."

"Fine." Lily sat down with a sigh. "What's up?"

'Well.. I was thinking about putting the Hogsmead trip the Saturday before Halloween, and then the usual feast on Halloween."

Lily wondered why this required a full- scale meeting.

"Yeah, fine. So?" she said, trying to look as annoyed as she felt.

"And then there's the matter of decorating." Said Potter, thoughtfully.

"Yeah?" asked Lily.

"Well?" asked Potter, "Do you have any ideas?"

"Hmmm… how about we can have tricks and treats set up along the table?" asked Lily, smiling.

"What's that?" asked Potter.

"A Muggle tradition. Muggle kids dress up in costumes, like goblins and ghosts, and go around asking 'trick or treat'. We could put small packages on the table, and some could have tricks and some could have treats!" said Lily, surprised by her own idea.

"Why would anyone want to dress up as a goblin?" was all Potter asked.

Lily rolled her eyes. "That's not the point. What do you think of my idea?"

"You know I love all your ideas, Evans." Said Potter, looking at her, pretending to be hurt.

"Shove off, Potter."

There was a moment of silence. Then Potter said, very slowly, very maturely,

"Maybe we should make a list of all our ideas."

"Okay." Said Lilly, getting gout a roll of parchment and a quill.

She wrote down "trick- or-treat."

"How about singing Jack-o-lanterns?" asked Potter.

"But what would they sing?"

The discussion continued.

They had a good list and had run out of ideas.

"We'll give this to McGonagall, and she can review it." Said Lily, rolling up the parchment.

"Okay." Said Potter, standing up, "Glad we could keep it professional."

Lily glared at him.

"I know you're just being mature because you're going to ask me out again."

"You're right. Will you go out with me?"

"No, Potter!"

"Please?"

"No!"

"I'll pay you."

Lily gasped and turned red with fury at this suggestion.

"How DARE you, Potter!" she squealed.

Potter shrugged. "It was worth a try."

"WORTH A TRY!"

"I was just a laugh—"

"You think it's funny do you?"

"Er,"

"It's all just a laugh for you, isn't it, Potter."

"You're not very profe-"

"Well, I don't think it's that bloody funny."

"You're pretty."

"Being mature to ask me out is NOT going to work. You'd have to do a lot better than that."

"So if I did do better—"

"I'd still say no!"

"You're still pretty!"

"I'd never go out with an immature, obnoxious, toe-rag like you, Potter!"

"Will you go out with me?"

She groaned and stormed off yelling "CAN'T TAKE A HINT!"

James was left standing there, wondering what he'd done wrong.

"Well, mate, I'd say it's because she hates you." Said Padfoot, sitting on his bed, his face covered with his Defense Against the Dark Arts textbook.

"You have been kind of a git." Moony put in, lifting his head from his Ancient Runes homework.

"How? I've asked her every way I can think of! I've tried being mature! I even stopped hexing Snape when she's around!"

But Remus just shook his head and bent over his work again.

"Maybe if you did something really nice for her. Like buying her a necklace or something." Put in Sirius, reclining on his bed.

James shook his head. "She'd be insulted."

Lupin sighed and put the book down. "Bloody hell you guys can be so thick sometimes!"

"What?" asked Padfoot, sitting up, looking disgruntled.

Moony turned to James, who stared back.

"Just be nice to her. She'll come along." Remus said, seriously.

"Great. No problem there. Be nice to a person who thinks I'm an arrogant, selfish git." Mumbled James.

"Exactly. Prove that you're not a git."

James flopped on his back. "Thanks, Moony," he said, his voice was dripping with sarcasm.

Moony just smiled and went back to his homework.

The next day, Lily was still furious at Potter. Even she wasn't sure what he had done wrong this time. But with Potter, she had just lost her head. He must have asked her out three times in one conversation! When she had tried to explain it to Alice—the most gentle of her friends—Alice had just shaken her head.

"I don't know, Lily. He really does like you."

"He offered to pay me! Isn't that like calling me a whore?" Lily begged, trying to justify her outburst.

"Maybe. Maybe he's just desperate." Said Alice, softly.

"We already knew he was desperate." Replied Lily

"But it's seventh year. Last year of school."

"So much the better."

Lily couldn't wait to be shot of James Potter.


	5. Maturity Check

DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN HARRY POTTER!

_Note: Thanks to __Loslote__ for the constructive review. I hope this chapter fits what you were thinking about! I'm enjoying writing this, and I hope everyone else enjoys reading it!_

"… The Patronus charm is an advanced spell that can be used to ward off a dementor attack. It is very hard and many have failed ever to produce a corporeal patronus…" Professor Hatting, their Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, droned on.

Lilly was taking notes, but was getting bored. She already knew all about Patronuses. Severus had told her about them, when they were young. She winced, mentally, and threw herself into her note taking, trying not to think about Severus, that day at the lake, Potter, That day in the classroom, or anything related to those two.

"… Dementor feeds of the Patronus instead of you. Now, the incantation for the partonus…"

Lily walked to the great Hall, hoping to eat quickly so as to start on her homework; a foot and a half on Elemental transfiguration, She had to practice nonverbal summoning charms, her Potions essay on exceptions to Golpalott's Third Law was due the next day and she only had four or five inches, besides the new assignment in Defense Against the Dark Arts on the effects of the Dementor's Kiss.

She ate hastily, circumvented Potter and his mates at the entry way, bumped into Sofia and Eleanor on the grand staircase, hurriedly explained that she had homework to do, and before she knew it, she was saying "Pumpkin Juice" to the Fat lady.

Lily plunked herself down on her favorite couch by the fire and started summoning her supplies from her bag, which was a breeze as usual. Charms was one of her best subjects, possibly better than Defense Against the Dark Arts. Deciding that that should be sufficient practice for now, she bent over her Potions essay, and sunk into the work.

"Evans." Said a deep, warm voice.

Lily looked up, and saw Potter standing over her. The common room was empty. Checking her watch, she saw that is was late.

"Potter." She said, betraying no emotion.

Potter sat down. "So?" he asked, quizzically.

"So, what?" Lily was exasperated. "What do you want?"

"To talk." Potter put his feet on the table.

"Go ahead. Just don't do it around me." Lily snapped, not looking at him, but starting to pack up her things.

"Evans, what was that all about, the other day?" Asked Potter, finally getting to the point.

"I should be asking you that! How could you do something like that?"

"Like what? It's not like I haven't asked you out before!" Potter's face was turning red.

"You never offered to pay me, like a common whore!" Lily's face was also turning red and her voice was a low hiss.

Potter sat back and closed his eyes. "Lily, I never meant to call you a whore."

"You never meant to tell me, anyways. Now I understand. That's why you've been asking me out all these years." Lily hissed, not knowing what she was saying. She just needed to argue back.

"No, no!" Potter's shock was genuine. "It was always serious! It was never a joke, to me!"

Lily stared at him. "I thought it was always a joke with you, Potter." She said, coldly.

"Not this." His tone matched hers.

Lily stood up abruptly. "Good night, Potter." She said, politely, ignoring the strange look in his eyes.

Without waiting for a reply, she turned on her heel and strode to her dormitory.

As Lily quietly got ready for bed, as not to wake her dorm mates, She couldn't help but wonder what Potter had been thinking back there in the common room. Had she seemed like a total idiot? Like a bitch? Did he truly not think she was a whore?

But this was Potter, she thought, trying in vain to dash these thoughts out of her mind. It was like the tide—it just kept coming back.

The morning after that talk in the common room, James woke up on the couch, aroused by footsteps.

"Prongs! There you are! Did you sleep down here all night?" Moony looked worried.

He seemed much better after the full moon, a few nights ago.

"Yeah. Just… drifted off, I suppose."

"You didn't happen to see… Lily Evans, did you? She was studying right… there." Sirius pointed dramatically at the couch opposite James.

"Yeah. She left. Hours ago." He added at Sirius's look of amusement and delight as possibilities soared into his mind.

"That bad, were you?" joked Sirius, grinning, ducking the pillow that soared over his head.

Wormtail squeaked as the mis-aimed pillow hit him in the face, doing nothing to duck it.

"Come on, let's go get breakfast." Sighed Lupin, as Sirius roared with laughter, to the disgruntlement of all the non-morning people in the common room.

"Right," Said James, getting up and rumpling his hair, "Let's go."

At breakfast, it was the usual sleepy ruckus that escalated as the meal came to an end. James could not help but sneak glances down the table, where Lily Evans was quietly eating breakfast. He wasn't sure where he stood with her, or what last night had changed, but there was definitely something.

Lily ate breakfast, quietly. She wasn't sure what had happened last night. She wasn't sure what she'd been thinking. But somehow, she had had a civil conversation with James Potter. She knew that he was looking at her. This was nothing out of the ordinary, and she was an expert at ignoring him.

After breakfast, she hurried out of the Great Hall, but was intercepted by Potter.

"Al right, Evans," he said.

"Potter," she put a subtle tinge of ice in her voice, making him cringe.

"What happened last night? You seemed so—"

"—What are you talking about, Potter?" she demanded, pretending.

"Will you go out with me, Evans?"

"No."

She left him standing there.

"She said what?" demanded Padfoot, during their free break.

Evans had ignored James all Potions class, leaving as soon as it was over.

"She acted like nothing had happened."

"Maybe she forgot?" squeaked Wormtail.

James ignored this.

"Were you acting mature?" inquired Moony, "Last night?"

Padfoot snorted. "Impossible!"

"Yeah. I tried to." James ignored his best friend, too.

"Did you act mature this morning?"

"Well…"

"He asked her out!" laughed Sirius.

"There you have it, then."

James leaned back and sighed. Girls were confusing.

"You did what?" asked Sofia, incredulously.

"You head me. I had a civil conversation with Potter." Lily shushed her.

"How did that happen?" Mary looked like it was hard not to giggle.

"I don't know! I was just finishing my Transfiguration homework—"

"That isn't do for four days," Eleanor rolled her eyes.

"Anyways," interrupted Sofia, looking at Lily.

"I don't know. He just came and sat down and started talking." Lily gave Alice a significant look.

"Did he?" asked Alice.

"He said he didn't mean to."

"Then what?"

"He said it wasn't a joke."

"I thought that that was—"

"- Impossible, right?"

"What are you two talking about?" demanded Eleanor, impatiently.

With a nod from Lily, Alice launched into the story.

"Wow." Said Mary.

"Lily," said Sofia.

"What the—" Eleanor began,

"It's time for Transfiguration!" Lily chirped, snatching her bag and walking down the stairs of their dormitory.


	6. Events

DISCLAIMER: don't own.

Note: O.k. I'd like to say that I'd been pretty good about updating thus far. But now, school's started and I'm not going to be very reliable. Please, bear with me, review, be patient, etc. I'm publishing this now, but I wasn't sure if it was ready, so the next chapter might be really short. Actually, this could have been four or five super-short stories, but there's no point in that! Thanks, all for reading!

It was Lily's night to do rounds with Potter again. She was in a good mood because Professor Slughorn had handed back her Potions essay with full marks earlier that day.

She met Potter as usual in the common room, by the portrait hole. They patrolled in silence for a few minutes.

"So, Evans?"

"What, Potter?" Lily

"Will you go out with me?"

"No."

The silence was back.

"Why not?"

"Huh?"

"Why won't you go out with me?"

Lily was confused. She thought she had made everything perfectly clear.

"I don't like you, Potter! Why would I go out with someone I hate?"

Potter didn't seem to have an answer to that, and they fell into the silence that attributed the time after almost any one of their conversations.

"So, why don't you go out with him, Lily?" asked Eleanor, as they were walking to Defense against the Dark Arts.

"Who?" asked Lily, innocently, feigning distraction.

"James Potter."

"What about him?"

"Oh, stop it, Lily."

"Stop what?"

"Don't make me hex you."

Lily sighed. "I won't go out with him because he's a git."

"What's wrong with that?"

"Why would you date a git?"

"I dated Sirius, didn't I?"

"But you dumped him."

"He would have dumped me soon, if I hadn't got to it. I'm one of the only ones who were smart enough to jump off before he did." Eleanor told her.

Thinking, Lily knew that this was right. Sirius went through women like water. Eleanor and this one Ravenclaw in their year named Theresa Clearwater were the only two girls who'd ever had the balls to dump him.

"But James Potter's different."

"You're right. He actually likes you." Eleanor said bitterly, but her body language didn't seem to betray any jealousy.

"But I don't like him." Lily told her, ignoring a comment that people had been making for years.

She knew James Potter liked her, but she didn't care. He was a git. If somebody likes you, you don't have to like him back, right?

"Come on. We've got to get to class."

"She said she didn't like me." James told Moony, in the library, hiding from Sirius.

"We knew that, mate. Otherwise she'd go out with you." Moony looked sympathetic.

Despite having had very few girlfriends because of his furry little problem, Moony was sensitive. Sirius would have just laughed.

"But how do I make her like me? Maturity just won't work."

"I dunno, mate. Maybe it's just not made to be. Try someone else."

James wondered how he could try someone else. He hadn't gone out with anybody since the end of fifth year, when Lily Evans had told him off that day by the lake. He had started liking her around third year, but it hadn't started coming out in words until fifth year. Could he try someone else?

"Like who?"

"I dunno. How about her friend, Eleanor? She had the guts to dump Padfoot."

"Would Padfoot approve?" James asked, nervously.

"Would I approve of what?" Padfoot had found them.

"If Prongs went out with your ex." Moony said, ignoring James's warning glance.

"Which one? Sandra? You don't want her. She's a whore. What happened to Evans?"

"She hates me. Moony thinks I should move on. He suggested going with Eleanor Pierson."

Sirius darkened. "Bad idea, mate. Go with Delaney Gordon. She's sweet. I regret dumping her."

"The Hufflepuff you dated in Third Year? How can you say that? Have you spoken to her since?" reprimanded Moony.

"No…"

"Honestly…" huffed Moony.

"Isn't Delaney Gordon the one who kept fainting in our O.W.L. year?" James put in, diverting the conversation.

"Yeah… wasn't it?"

"And Trevor Kempton… he threw up in the middle of our Transfiguration written exam!"

"Speaking of which, remember that prank we played on Marissa Sanders? She almost…"

Thus gossiping, the three walked out of the library, earning a suspicious glare from Madam Pince.

In the future, James had to laugh. His friends had been so easily diverted by gossip it was funny.


	7. The First Realization

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.

Note: Review, please. *Puppy dog eyes* Sorry I didn't post for a while. I was on a camping trip across five states with no computer.

The Hogsmead trip was coming up, and Halloween in its wake. Alice and Frank already had plans to meet, and Eleanor had a date, though she wouldn't tell them who, in an unusual display of muteness. Even Sofia shook her head when Mary asked her, a look of bewilderment on her face. Anyhow, Sofia had detention with Professor Edgecombe, the Herbology teacher who was rail thin, about a hundred years old, and whose sparse curly hair fell lankly under her old ratty hat.

So, it was rather quiet as Mary and Lily shuffled on the words toward the Village. The day was brisk, and their footsteps crunched over fallen leaves as they traversed Main Street. After a few minutes of chilly window-shopping, they shuffled into the three broomsticks. It was crowded, but they managed to find a small table. Adjacent to them was a black-haired couple, in an intense conversation. As they ordered two butter beers from Madam Pamela, with her little seven- year- old daughter, Rosmerta, clinging to her skirts, Mary's eyes widened. She was looking somewhere over Lily's shoulder, but all there was to see was the couple behind them.

"You know what, I'm feeling much warmer. Do you want to go to Honeydukes?" she asked, downing her butter beer in record time.

"Sure. Let me finish this." Lily was puzzled.

"Oh, al right. Hurry up, I'm bored." Mary was being unusually rude, but she kept glancing over Lily's shoulder.

They paid quickly, and as they got up, the black haired girl behind them looked up. It was Eleanor. Before Lily could comment, or look to see whom her date was, Mary was hurrying her out of the pub, and nearly dragged her into Honeydukes, thrust a couple of Fizzing Whizzbees and Jelly slugs into her hands.

"Mary, what's going on?" demanded Lily, throwing the Jelly Slugs back on the shelf.

"Nothing. Should I get a sugar quill, or a box of Ice mice? They don't really go down well together, do they?"

"Mary, who was Eleanor's date?"

"I didn't see." Mary lied, obviously.

"Mary…"

"Lily, I—"

"Who, Mary? Who!" Lily relieved Mary of her candy and dragged her outside. "Why is it such a big secret?"

"Ask her yourself. Here she comes." Mary pointed, and Lily turned.

Eleanor was walking up the street, looking slightly mad. She looked up and saw Lily and Mary. Coming towards her, the three girls just stood there, awkwardly. They were all wearing light jackets. Mary's was red and knit. Lily's a navy felt button-up. Eleanor's was also black, but a zip up with grey stripes and a hood.

"Hi." Mary greeted, apprehensively. Lily raised a hand.

"Hi. What's up?" Eleanor asked, keeping up the casual pretense.

"I don't feel much like sugar today. I wish there was a proper coffee shop here."

"What about that new place… Madam Pussyfoot's?" suggested Eleanor.

"Puddifoot's. And don't go there. It's a couple's haunt." Mary supplied.

"Let's go to Gladrags, then. I need a new coat." Eleanor hugged the light sweater to her.

"They won't have anything you want there." Lily told her. "It's all cloaks and robes. No muggle clothes."

"Oh, well. Let's go back to the Castle, then. Unless you guys need to do some shopping?"

Lily and Mary shook their heads and fell into step beside Eleanor, on the already beaten-down road back to the castle.

It had been bothering Lily who Eleanor's date was. No one had told her, and Mary and Eleanor now seemed to avoid her gaze 24/7. She asked Sofia about it, but her friend just shook her head.

"They told me it wasn't their secret."

"But they were just sitting there, in the pub! Anyone could have noticed. It's just bad luck I didn't. Why won't they tell me?"

"I don't know. Maybe they think you don't want to know."

"Why not? She's dating him. Why wouldn't I like that?"

"I don't know…"

Lily was tired of the secrecy. She decided to confront them. She was on her way to the Great Hall, where Mary and Eleanor were eating lunch, when she saw a black haired head round the corner. It was Potter.

"Hey, Evans."

"Potter."

"The next head meeting should be soon. We need to start plans for The next Hogsmead trip, the Christmas banquet, and collect the new Passwords from the portraits so that we can give them to the prefects." He counted off on his fingers, his head tilted, and his hair flopping everywhere.

Lilly blinked. She was beginning to realize that Potter could be mature when he wanted to.

"Sure. How does Wednesday night sound? Common room?"

"Fine. See you tonight for rounds."

Potter walked away. Without asking her out, Lily realized, five minutes later as she walked into the great hall. She was contemplating the repercussions of a civil conversation with Potter as she automatically sat down with Mary and Eleanor. She didn't even notice when they fell silent as she helped herself to potatoes.

"Hey, Lily." Mary broke through Lily's thoughts.

"Huh?"

"What's up? You seem… like you're not all there today."

Lily decided to tell them the truth, as she saw it.

"Nothing. It's just… I had a civil conversation with James Potter."

"Really? What's that? The third time this year?" Mary teased her, shooting a glance at Eleanor, whose face was blank.

"Yeah. I guess being Head Boy sort of forces him to be mature." Lily mused, looking down the table where Potter joked with his friends.

"Uh-uh." Mary said, shooting Eleanor a we-need-to-talk glance that was not lost on Lily.

"I'd better go work on this Arithmancy paper on the magical significance of Pi." Eleanor stood up and walked out of the room.

Moments later, Mary claimed a full stomach and hurried out after her.

Sofia passed Mary in the doorway and Lily intercepted her. She silenced Sofia's protests and they snuck after Mary.

Note: Kind of short, but I really wanted to get this out there. More coming!


	8. Secrets and Stuff

DISCLAIMER: BLAH BLAH BLAH. NOT MINE

Note: I've got a nice, three-day weekend, so I'll probably try to pump as many chapters out as possible, but no promises. I like to sleep… too much.

"I still don't get it, Eleanor. What happened?"

"You don't get it, Mary, Lily's never going to say yes. That makes James fair game. Besides, he asked me."

Lily and Sofia looked at each other, wide-eyed. Each had a sneaking suspicion that their questions were being answered. Their ears were glued to the door of the empty classroom that Mary had disappeared into.

"But… Lily was just about to crack. I could tell. Now that Potter has deflated his head a little…"

"James has given up. Besides, this is important to me, too."

"Don't tell me you like James." Gasped Mary.

"I'm going out with him, aren't I?"

"I know, but—"

"Well, to answer your question I do care about Potter. Even if I don't like his friends."

"Black, you mean?"

"Who else?"

"Why?"

"Why what?"

"El, what's going on? I don't get you."

"I can't tell you, Mary. Stay out of it."

Lily and Sofia had to sprint down the hallway before Eleanor opened the door. They waited until Mary had come out, too, then wandered to the common room to get their bags. They had double Herbology that afternoon.

Lily, Mary, and Alice shared a tray with a Ravenclaw girl, Anika Robbins. They were handling Aconite that day. Looking around the classroom, Lily saw that there were five other Gryffindors. Potter, Black, Lupin, and Pettigrew were among them, as well as a quiet girl named Georgia Thompson. There were many Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws, too. Lily knew a couple by name, including Jane Greenwood and Megan McIntyre. The only Slytherins were Severus, Lestrange, and Black's cousin, Bellatrix Black. They shared a tray with an uncomfortable looking Ravenclaw who sat apart form them, on a far corner of the tray.

"Very good, Mr. Lupin. Your harvesting technique is well-thought out. Look at this! Not a leaf damaged, and you've still managed to collect nearly ten flowers!" praised Proffessor Edgecombe, her high, raspy voice grating against the glass walls on all sides.

Lupin acknowledged the praise, but kept working. The others at his tray exchanged knowing grins. They obviously were used to their friend getting praise.

Lily rolled her eyes and ignored that. She was having some trouble collecting the useful flowers of the plant without disturbing the toxic yellow leaves. She was used to Lupin beating her in most classes. But Herbology was the class where she usually had the upper hand. She bit her tongue and carefully reached for another flower.

Lily rolled up her essay and stowed the parchment carefully in her bag. She swung her legs off the side of the plush couch she was lying on and stood up, shaking out the writers' cramp and stretching. She looked over at the portrait hole and saw James patting his friends on the shoulder and walking over to where she stood.

"Ready for rounds, Evans?"

"Let me just take my bag upstairs, Potter." She said, lacing her polite tone with sickly sweet venom.

She bent down to get her bag and left for her dorm without another word.

"Why in the name of Merlin did Dumbledore make Potter head boy?" she lamented out loud to her friends, who looked up. Mary's face was innocent to a fault, Sofia's reproachful, and Eleanor's stony. Alice merely looked bemused and said, "Good luck, Lily." Which obviously exasperated Eleanor further, based on the darkening of her eyes and the fact that Mary's elbow found it's way to Alice's side.

"Ow!" was the last thing Lily heard from her friends as she climber down the stairs and marched smartly past Potter and out the portrait hole.

"Where are we supposed to patrol this evening?" Potter inquired.

"I checked the schedule. We have the fifth floor corridor."

They headed toward the grand staircase and climbed to the fifth floor. The castle seemed to be holding its breath. Lily waited for the inevitable civil conversation that would prove her fears—were they fears? She glanced over at her companion. He was frowning at the floor, biting his lip. She was about to open her mouth to tease him, but stopped. Potter appeared to be troubled, and it was more than her time's worth to nettle him. She wasn't being _civil_, per say. She was just being a decent person, like Potter should have been all along, right? They reached the end of the corridor and turned down the left fork. The moon was shining through the high windows, about half full, and getting larger. Lily smiled and closed her eyes and smiled as the moonlight touched her face. She loved the moon. The civil conversation never came.

Classes passed without mishap the next day. Lily felt that she had avenged herself justly when she beat Lupin at Defense Against the Dark Arts, a subject where they were usually evenly matched. As she swept out of the classroom with a roaring triumph at being the best, she passed him. She saw that he was looking under the weather, and the roaring immediately subsided. Why was she being so competitive? True, they usually competed against each other, but it was a friendly challenge, rather than this struggle. No, Lily thought. She did not hate Remus Lupin in any way, shape, or form. It was James Potter she hated, right?

Wednesday night came, and the head meeting arrived with it. Lily met Potter on the plush sofas before the roaring fire, where they faced each other and discussed.

"I think that that Saturday is a good idea." Lily finished their conversation as to the next Hogsmead date—it would be just before Christmas break, but far enough away that people wouldn't be leaving Hogwarts the next day.

"Now, as for the banquet, we'll need Hagrid to get the twelve Christmas trees. I hope we can do better than last year"

"Last year, the head boy was an idiot."

"You only say that because he was in Slytherin and they nearly beat you in Quidditch last year."

"I do not!" Potter was indignant. "Besides, we beat them by a good seventy points!"

"If you say so." Lily didn't want a fight.

That second, Lily realized that she had just backed down to Potter. She was about to open her mouth to make a comeback, when he mouth dropped open for another reason.

"Nevermind. If Regulus Black hadn't taken a Bludger to the head in their game against Ravenclaw, he would have seen that Snitch before I did."

Was James Potter—_actually_—being modest? Lily blinked and hastily put forth some ideas for the Feast. When they had a good list, Lily folded it up and offered to give it to McGonagall the next day. They parted with polite nods and went to their separate dormitories.


	9. Eleanor

DISCLAIMER: THE MOST AMAZING BOOKS IN THE WORLD, A.K.A. HARRY POTTER BELONG TO THE FABULOUS, GENIUS J.K. ROWLING AND SHE DESERVES ALL THE CREDIT FOR THE PLOT, CHARACTERS, ETC OF THE EPIC TALE OF HARRY POTTER. I'M JUST A FAN WITH TOO MUCH SPARE TIME ON HER HANDS.

Note: Alrighty, then. So, the story is coming to a climax. It may not seem like it, but you'll see. This chapter is probably the most out-of-sinc with the books, but I had an idea, and I took it.

The month of November passed quickly. Towards, December, the teachers started adding to the workload more and more. Lily's friends started joining her in the library, even Eleanor. Except for certain times when Eleanor disappeared. From the way Mary acted at those times, it had something to do with her mysterious boyfriend. Lily and Sofia kept a close eye on her, Sofia suspiciously, though Lily was secretly relieved that she was seeing Potter so much. She hoped their relationship was a long-lasting one, if not a signal that Potter was well over her.

As December started, Eleanor's disappearances became more and more frequent. Lily rarely saw her, except for in class. Somehow, Potter was never late for their meetings. Lily worried about her friend. Sure, dating Potter was repulsive enough, but seeing him constantly while trying to hide it from your friends who already knew was just plain idiotic. Lily was just about ready to spill the beans on herself and Sofia, but Sofia disagreed.

"Why should we? She'd feel really stupid."

"Eleanor? Feel stupid? No way. She's unstoppable. Besides, she doesn't like beating around the bush. I'm sure she'd rather it was all out in the open."

"But you heard her talking to Mary. It's more than her just going out with Potter."

"The is Eleanor we're talking about, right Sof? She just said that to get Mary to back off."

"Just because Eleanor's tough doesn't mean she doesn't have feelings." Sofia looked mildly hurt on her best friend's behalf.

"I didn't say that. I'm just saying; this is getting awkward."

"Are you jealous?"

"What?"

"Would you rather Potter went out with you?"

"If I did, I would've had the chance to for years!"

"If you say so." Sofia backed down, holding up her hands.

There was a moment of awkward silence, but Sofia wasn't to be put down. She jumped up and said, "It's snowing!"

It was.

"Let's go play in it!"

"No. I have work to do. Defense Against the Dark Arts is next, and I want to make sure I'm ready for that test."

Sofia groaned, rolled her eyes, and left Lily to her studies.

"N.E.W.T.s are this fall. As such, you must prepare yourselves. That said, I want two feet of parchment from each of you on elemental transfiguration. You may go.", Professor McGonagall dismissed them.

There was a great shuffling as the class gathered their things and headed out the door. Lily walked quickly to get to the library. She had a free period now, and intended to use it wisely. She studied for hours, attended an un-remarkable Herbology class. Lupin had been sick all day, so she had been able to get a jumpstart on him in this idiotic competition she was having with him in her head.

On her way to the Great Hall for Dinner, Lily took a detour to avoid Peeves, who was causing a roadblock of First years. She passed by an empty classroom, and was nearly hit in the face by the door opening. Potter emerged, leading Eleanor by the hand. Looking around and spotting Lily, Eleanor dropped Potter's hand and stood, staring at her.

"What are you doing here?" Eleanor demanded, finally.

"Peeves was throwing dung bombs at some first years on the great staircase. I passed the Bloody Baron earlier. He'll sort it out. In the mean time, I'm taking that back stair at the end of this corridor."

"Aren't Head Girls supposed to sort that kind of thing out?" Eleanor hissed.

"Aren't Head Boys supposed to NOT be hiding in an empty classroom snogging their girlfriends?" Lily shot back.

Potter stared at her, but Eleanor was not done.

"It's none of your business who James snoggs! Or where or when, for that matter!"

"I never said it was! You're the ones who walked right out of a classroom when anyone could have been in the hallway!"

"No one would have been if you'd have been dealing with Peeves!"

"I told you, the Bloody Baron was on his way!"

Potter had said nothing during this whole conversation. Now, he cleared his throat, still staring at the two of us standing there, nose to nose. He said,

"Well, I'd better be off. I'll see you at Dinner, Eleanor." With that, he walked off.

What a strange bloke, Potter.

I turned to Eleanor to tell her so, but she was still glaring at me. She usually reserved that look for Sirius Black and teachers who assigned too much homework. I had thought we were friends, but this glare told me otherwise. Her dark eyes were boring into my skull. What scared me most was why she was so mad. I didn't know why, but something didn't make sense. Why wouldn't she tell me that she was dating Potter?

"Why didn't you tell me?" I asked.

"Because…" Eleanor's tirade trailed off. She didn't have anything to say to that.

"Does this have anything to do with you and Black?" I ventured on a whim.

"What about him?" Eleanor pretended to be confused.

"Don't give me that bollux. You're dating your ex's best friend and you didn't tell your best friend. Something's off."

"No! Nothing's off!"

"I know you better than that, Eleanor. Come on. Why shouldn't I know!"

"'Cause it's my business, that's why!" Eleanor was angry again.

"Well, after all this, I think I have a right to know!"

"Well, you thought wrong then, didn't you?"

"Never mind. Go ahead! Run around snogging Potter to get back at Black! I don't care!"

Eleanor's face drained of all color.

"How did you know?" she wondered aloud.

"Know what?"

"That I'm trying to get revenge on Black?"

"You are?"

"You just said…"

"I did?"

"Yeah. You did."

"Just now?"

"Yeah."

"Huh?"

"Really. How did you know?"

"I didn't."

We stood there, confused. Then, I stepped towards her and held out my arms. She accepted the hug graciously, and we walked downstairs together.

"So, how's the revenge working?" I asked as we reached the back stairs.

"Not well. It seems that Black was the one who suggested that Potter take me out."

"Were you planning on making Black jealous?" I asked, incredulously.

Black had gone out with so many people, that he wouldn't care by now.

"To be honest, I didn't really have a plan. I just went with my gut."

"Does Potter know?"

"I don't think so."

We walked the rest of the way in a comfortable silence.


	10. More Rounds and Snow

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Harry Potter.

Note: I'm starting this chapter when I'm really sleepy, but I'll try to get it out ASAP. Sorry it took so long. And, thank you to all my lovely reviewers. There's actually only like… four or five of you, but I love you all, anyways. :D

That evening, Lily sat in the common room, staring at her blank parchment. She was trying to write her charms paper, but the words wouldn't come. It's not like Charms was her worst subject—on the contrary. She loved Charms. But for some reason, she just couldn't concentrate. Eleanor and Potter had obviously decided that there was no more need for secrecy. They had spent the better part of the evening sitting on one of the cushy armchairs in the corner—snogging each other's faces off. At one point, Potter had surfaced and left. Eleanor was now reading her Arithmancy book, and Lily was waiting for Potter to come back. They had rounds that evening.

When Potter didn't show up, Lily packed up her bag and decided to leave on rounds. She thought of leaving a message for Potter with Black or Lupin, but neither was to be seen. So, Lily left the message with Eleanor and headed out the portrait hole.

Lily wasn't sure what had happened, but she ended up in the entry hall. The door was unlocked. Someone must have gone outside. Lily opened the great wooden doors and crept out. If it was a student, she'd better find out who it was. They would be in serious trouble.

The night sky was a dark, velvety blue. The sun lingered on the horizon. The air was cold and nipped at Lily's skin through her robes. She had not worn a coat. The grass was brown and stiff, but it waved in the wind nonetheless. The trees lashed about in the wind, sporadically. The stars were pinpricks in the sky, dimmed by the round, cold orb of the moon. It must be full tonight or tomorrow.

Lily's eyes swiveled left and right, taking all this in. She wondered where Potter was—had he gotten her message with Eleanor? Would he be able to find her out here? Not that she'd mind if he didn't. It was just that the night was sort of scary. Lily had rarely seen the grounds at night, and then, it had mostly been from the top of the astronomy tower. Company would be nice, even such bad company as Potter's.

Who could be outside at night? Normally, she would suspect Potter and his friends, but Lupin was sick, Potter was Head Boy, and Black and Pettigrew wouldn't go without Potter. Potter and Black were definitely the ringleaders of the gang. And what a gang! Lily would swear that she had spent at least half of her time for past two years chasing after them with Lupin. Lupin, he was another weight on Lily's mind. It wasn't because he was sick. He was always sick. He missed about one fourth of his classes, yet he always stayed on top of things. In front, more like.

No. What was bothering Lily was why Lupin had not been made Head Boy? He had been a prefect, after all. Usually, Prefects became the next Head Boy and Girl.

Lily was half way to the Groundskeeper's hut. His name was Hagrid. No one knew how he got to be so tall. Some more vicious persons claimed that he was part giant. Others mused about engorgement spells and skele-grow. Lily had wondered, too but tried not to come to conclusions.

The wind howled, ice-cold. The Full moon disappeared behind a cloud, making the grounds fade from eerily pale to a ghostly dark.

It started to snow. Lily shivered and hugged herself, but trudged on, looking left and right. She thought she hear a rustle from behind a big tree. Was this the culprit?

Wand close at hand, Lily crept forward toward the tree. It was large and odd-shaped, unrecognizable in the gloomy night. Where was she? She daren't light her wand for fear of alerting her prey.

Lily diverted her thoughts from that creepy line of thought. Prey? Was she a cat, or a hunter? No. She was just the Head Girl of the school, making sure all her charges were safe.

There was a wooden creak behind her, Lily froze, and slowly turned. It was a branch. Coming right at her!

Lilly screamed and ducked. Now she knew what tree this was! It was the Whomping Willow! The Branch barely missed her head, but another was coming right at her. Not having time to think, Lily just stood there, when strong hands grabbed her, and someone tackled her, pulling her down.

But they fell farther than they should have, into a sort of hole. Lily screamed.

"Are-you-mad?" James Potter Panted, His already crooked glasses askew, and a cut on his face.

Strange howling noises were coming from behind him, at the end of the packed-dirt tunnel.

"What's that?" Lily asked, shaking.

"We've got to get you out of here. Hurry! I'll go first." Potter climbed over her and crawled to the mouth of the tunnel.

The tree above them creaked, and went still.

"Come on! Hurry!"

A grubby hand was offered to her, and she took it, clamering out of the hole and out of the tree's reach.

"What are you doing here?" Lily demanded.

"What are _you_ doing here?" James retorted, polishing his glasses on his jacket—he had thought to bring one, oddly.

With a flick of her wand, Lily repaired the glasses and cleaned them.

"Thanks." James put his glasses back on.

"The Great Door was unlocked. I thought maybe a student had snuck out…" Lily trailed off, shivering, "Did Eleanor give you my message?"

He blinked, then said, "Ye-yeah. She did."

"Good. Thanks for catching up I hope you're prompt for rounds in the future."

"Yeah. Sorry about that." Potter scuffed the ground with his trainer.

"You should probably wear your robes and badge, too." I examined him with a critical eye. He was wearing muggle clothes, which didn't seem too bad right now. Robes can be a little breezy if you know what I mean.

"Sure, Lily. Whatever you say." Potter shifted. "I'm sure the teachers will deal with whatever student's out here. We'd best get back inside. And leave the door open."

"Fine" I rubbed my goose-pimply arms and turned towards the castle.

Potter took off his coat and offered it to me, but I almost refused.

"I've got layers." He insisted, and draped the coat around my shoulders.

I wasn't about to arguer further, as I was loosing all feeling in vital parts of my body. I accepted the coat. "Thanks."

When we got back into the castle, the first person we met was Peeves.

"Ooooh. Potty and Evans! Out of bed! On the grounds! Trouble for Peevsie!"

"Stuff it, Peeves. We're Head Boy and Girl!" Potter took his coat back from me and shut the great wooden door.

"Head Boy and Girl out on the grounds together! Kissy Kissy Trouble Trouble!" Peeves blew a raspberry at us.

"Don't make me tell the Baron on you!" I threatened, hands on hips.

"Baron's not here." Peeves taunted.

"But he can be summoned." A curt voice came from behind Peeves.

"Professor McGonagall." Potter sounded nervous, understandably.

"You wouldn't." Peeves's eyes darted from side to side.

"I would. Now, run along and let me talk to the Head Boy and Girl."

Peeves swooped off, clanging into suits of armor as he went.

"Now. What's this all about?" Demanded McGonagall.

"I was—late for Rounds, Professor." Potter confessed.

McGonagall nodded, understanding some meaning in his words, and he continued.

" Evans here went without me."

"I came down here, and found that the Doors were unlocked. It was silly of me—I decided to make sure there were no students out on the grounds at night." I put in.

"I see. And are there?" McGonagall raised an eyebrow, coolly.

"Not that we found, Professor. See, It was dark and I had a mishap with the Whomping Willow. Potter came in just then."

"The Whomping Willow? Really? Is everything quite alright?"

"We're just shaken, Professor." Potter put in.

"I see. Well, Evans you may return to your house. Potter, I'd like a word with you."

"Yes, Professor." We said, and I left, feeling disgraced.

Note: He he he. That was close. I thought it was pretty original… Hope you liked!


	11. Realizations and Reason

Disclaimer: Don't own anything involving Harry Potter.

Note: Hey. Sorry for the delay. I'm really bad about deadlines. Thanks to the people who've reviewed. It's really helpful!

For the next few days, Lily watched James Potter carefully. She had expected him to gloat, to proclaim himself knight-in-shining armor or something. Of course, he was still going out with Eleanor, but that didn't last long. Three days after what Lily thought of as the 'incident', Potter dumped Eleanor. Eleanor didn't take it hard. It was a clean break-up, but Lily wondered if the incident had anything to do with it. Eleanor wasn't forthcoming about the break, and Lily tried to be mature about it and pretend that nothing had ever happened. She could only hope that Potter wouldn't go back to his old annoying ways.

Potter showed no sign that anything had happened that night. He sat under the usual tree by the lake, having snowball fights and laughing with Black, Pettigrew, and a now-healthy Lupin. As ever, his hair was tousled and idiotic, but at least he'd lost that stupid Snitch. Lily wondered if he'd not been able to nick a whole Quaffle. Having heard that Potter was once again available, several giggling girls were lurking about nearby. As usual, Potter ignored them, but ruffled his hair more than usual.

"Probably more than he's done in weeks." Mary grinned at Lily one day as they shivered in the courtyard, watching potter and practicing nonverbal melting charms on the snow.

Lily laughed and melted an icicle that was hanging off the eaves. It dripped on top of Sofia, who looked around, and glared at her friends, who were whooping with mirth.

"Oi!" Sofia threw a snowball at Lily, who quickly melted it with her wand.

"That was cold!" complained Sofia.

"Then wear a hat, Sofie." Mary suggested, patting Sofia on the head, mockingly.

"It's not that long a walk. And I get hat hair." Sofia wined, flipping her long blond ponytail that reminded Lily of a fairy tale princess, if princesses had thinner hair and red highlights.

"I'm sure. Anyway, what's the rush?" Lily asked.

"I wasn't rushing."

"Then why were you going so fast?"

"I have long legs, okay?" Sofia retorted, spurring another fit of giggles.

"So does Lily, and she doesn't walk fast." Mary put in.

"Because she takes tiny steps"

"So?" Lily demanded.

"What's all this?" Professor Slughorn came waddling out into the courtyard, dressed in a ridiculously plus purple velvet overcoat with embossed buttons and fur lining. His fat head was covered in a matching fur hat, and rubber boots protected his feet.

"Professor Slughorn, sir!" Mary greeted, smiling hugely. Mary was not the best potion maker, but was studying for a ministry position in the Department of International Affairs. She hoped that Slughorn could get her into a good internship, so she was always a bit of a suck-up.

"Mary, dear! Thank you so much for the Crystallized Pineapple. It was very thoughtful of you."

"Mary is a very thoughtful person, professor." Lily put in helpfully, seeing Mary's mouth twitch in gratitude.

"Ah, Lily! My favorite student! Your essay on the Skele-grow potion was most intriguing. I was talking to my dear friend, Medella Valetudo (yes, she's one of the top healers at St. Mungos. Taught her myself) just the other day. She said your point about the ingredients was quite insightful."

"Thank you, professor." Lily commented, seeing Mary's cheeks flush.

"Hello, Rosanna. Nice to see you."

Sofia smiled politely. She got in too much trouble and had too few ambitions to be in Slughorn's good books. Of course, Lily knew that if Slughorn ever saw Sofia in Defense Against the Dark Arts, he'd change his mind.

"Well, I'd best be off. I expect to see you at the next meeting of the Slug Club, Lily."

"Sure, professor." Lily said, making a note to check out a book from the library before going to the next meeting.

"Well, if you'll excuse me, I have a meeting I must get to."

And with that, Slughorn left them for the other side of the courtyard.

" He loves you, Lily. He remembers your name." Sofia teased, stomping out patterns in the snow.

"He remembers Mary's name, too!" defended Lily, knowing Sofia had a point.

"I put my name on every box of pineapple I send him. Stupid pig. I hope he gets me that job, though."

"Keep sending him pineapple and getting good grades and he will." Lily assured her.

"Cheers." Mary said, glancing at her watch.

"Uh oh. I've got an ancient ruins class in fifteen minutes." Mary hurried off.

"See ya." Lily called after her.

"What do you have next?" Sofia asked.

"Nothing until Charms. That's why I'm out here." Lily melted another patch of snow.

"Me neither." Sofia cleared the snow away from a patch of snow with her own wand, siphoned off the excess water, and conjured up a cushion to sit on.

"Lazy." Lily commented, leaning against the tree and melted a patch of snow above Sofia head.

"At this rate, I won't need to shower." Sofia commented, rubbing her wet hair.

"Ew." Said Lily.

That night, Lily had rounds. Potter actually showed up that night, and they started off in the usual direction.

"Why aren't you gloating?" Lily asked the question that was on her mind.

"Gloating?" Potter's face was innocent.

"Yes. Gloating. You do it all the time."

"I'm not gloating."

Lily turned to him in fake shock. "Who are you and what have you done with Potter?"

"What? You miss the old Potter, Evans?" Potter smirked.

Now that was the Potter I knew.

"Not in the least. To bad he just came back there."

"Yeah. Sorry. Couldn't help it." Potter grinned.

Couldn't help what? Lily wanted to know, but didn't ask.

"Hooray. He's gone again." Lily's voice was flat.

"Yay…" The conversation trailed off into an awkward silence where neither of them could think of what to say.

Her thoughts roving as the silence settled around them, Lily realized that not only could Potter be civil, but that Potter could be a good person. But no, surely not! Potter was an arrogant toe-rag, wasn't he? But he'd saved her life and not gloated about it. Even so, he was a jerk, went around hexing people he didn't like, and didn't care about anyone but himself. But no, that didn't fit, either. He hadn't hexed random people all year, since he'd been head boy. He'd even let Eleanor down gently. Speaking of which…

"Why'd you ditch Eleanor?"

Potter shrugged. "I don't think either of us were dating each other for the right reasons. "

"What do you mean?"

Potter shrugged again, avoiding Lily's gaze as they patrolled the east wing of the castle. "She was only dating me to get at Sirius. She should have known it wouldn't work. She was probably about to ditch me, anyways."

Lily couldn't deny this, so she just said "Oh," and kept walking.

Lily wasn't sure if she dared ask why Potter had been dating Eleanor for the wrong reasons.


	12. Potter Problems

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Harry Potter. Never have, never will. Oh, well.

Note: OMG reviews! I love you alllllllllll!

Lily was confused. She didn't know how to handle this new Potter. And she had to, since he was Head Boy. Another Head Meeting was coming up, and Lily didn't know how to act. On the one hand, she could act like she had with the old Potter. On the other hand, she could be pleasant. She wasn't sure what to do, and she was still confused two days after that evening of patrols, the day of the head meeting. Lily attended her Transfiguration class, and headed to the library to do work. The head meeting was scheduled for that evening, when they'd usually be doing rounds, but the prefects were all patrolling that night, so they weren't needed.

Lily pulled her Charms notes out of her bag, and began cramming for the test that was in an hour. She knew it all already, but wanted to get it down perfectly. She set herself to her studies.

**switch POV**

James was confused. He didn't know how to handle Evans, and he had to because there was another head meeting coming up. How should he act? On the one hand, he could go back to the old Potter. But then there'd be another fight. Or, he could keep this maturity act up. But he didn't think he could. He wasn't mature. He wasn't sure what to do and he was still confused as he headed to lunch the day of the meeting.

"Hey, Mate." Greeted Padfoot, shifting on the bench so he took up less room.

James ignored this and took the seat across from Sirius. Remus had entered the hall from the other direction, and he sat in the newly made seat.

"Hi, Sirius." Remus looked awful. He'd had a rough night, but he seemed to be on the mend. "James."

"Hi, Moony. Feeling better?" Like Padfoot needed to ask. All three of the non-werewolf marauders were familiar with Remus's post-full moon exhaustion.

"Much better. Cold's almost gone. Just in time for that Charms test, too." Remus said, flipping through his notes.

"Oh, Come on, Moony! That test isn't for another three hours!" Sirius complained.

"Yes, but I have a paper to write for Arithmancy that's due in three days." Moony explained calmly, used to this sort of thing.

Padfoot met James's eyes and shook his head, as if Remus were a small child who had just said something very, very silly.

"I have the whole afternoon free until Charms." James offered, sticking a potato in his mouth.

"Want to do some… Marauding?"

"Can't. I'm head boy. Evans'll blow her top."

"Speaking of which, did the Eleanor thing work? Do you still like her?"

James glared at him, but Padfoot just winked in a _we'll talk about this later_ sort of way.

Later, in the common room, James was lazily scribbling down some notes for Transfiguration, but he wasn't really paying attention. Across from him, Remus was studying with his tongue between his teeth. Sirius, on the other hand, was nonverbally banishing pieces of paper across the room toward a nervous-looking third year, who kept looking up, startled, every time a piece of paper hit the back of his head.

"I'm bored." Sirius complained.

"Well, I can fix that." Commented Remus.

Padfoot groaned, leaning back. "No, I won't help you study"

"I'm bored, too." James put in, helpfully.

"Then you can help me study."

"You don't need it, Moony. Anyway, I was thinking of taking a nap. All this patrolling on top of Quidditch is wearing me out."

"I'm coming, too." Sirius stood up and followed James into the dormitory.

James sat down heavily on his bed. They shared the room with Moony, Wormtail, and Frank Longbottom.

"So, about Evans." Sirius began.

"What about her?" James lay back on his bed.

"Do you still like her?"

"I dunno."

"What do you mean, 'dunno'? The whole point of you going out with Eleanor was to get you over Evans. Did it work?"

"I guess not."

"So, are you going to ask her out again?"

"Nah. I know the answer."

"Maybe it changed."

"Not likely."

"Is that whole maturity thing working?"

"Dunno. I'll talk to Remus."

"Talk to me about what?" Remus joined them in the room.

"Is the maturity thing working on Evans?" Sirius clarified, looking expectant.

"Well, she hasn't bitten his head off recently."

"Yes, but would she go out with him?"

"What does James think?"

But James had decided to take his nap.

The Charms quiz took Lily's mind off of her Potter Problems briefly. But after dinner, she had already gone through the whole exam in her head and has stressed herself into a neutral calm. As she walked to the Head meeting, which was to be in an empty classroom, the bubble popped, but it's residue remained. It felt like her internal organs were made of wobbly jell-o, yet her hands didn't shake and no blushes creeped up her hairline.

Potter was not yet there, so Lily shoved some desks together and sat down to wait. When Potter did arrive, he just stood in the doorway for a minute, and they stared at each other.

_Well, this is awkward_ was what was going through both of their minds.

Finally, Potter cleared his throat and sat down.

"Hello, Evans."

"Potter,"

It seemed like they were back to being professional. Lily was both confused and relieved by this situation. This must mean that Potter didn't like her. Potter not like her, After all these years? This what she had wanted, wasn't it? Couldn't she change her mind? Why would she want to do that? This was Potter…

Potter cleared his throat again. And Lily's face did turn a little pink.

"McGonagall gave notice that there should be two Hogsmead trips between now and Christmas."

"Oh. Um, Christmas is in about a month. Should we have one in two weeks and one right before break?"

"People will want to pack right before break."

"One this week and one in three weeks?"

"Can we do that? Schedule one so soon?"

As they worked out the logistics, the tension eased. They were just two people, talking about business matters, so to speak.

Soon the subject changed to planning the Christmas Banquet and decorating the castle.

"There'll be the normal Christmas trees, of course." Potter stated.

"And the same decorations as every year?"

"For the trees, yes. But I think we should do something special."

"Maybe we could change the candles to be red?"

"Red wax, and we'll charm them to burn gold."

"And they can be scented! How about Cinnamon?"

"Naw. Gingerbread."

"Sounds good." Lily said, licking her lips, ever so slightly.

James was just as confused as Lily. When he had come into the door, he had seen her sitting there, and a thought had popped into his head; that she was truly the most beautiful girl at Hogwarts. But he shook that aside and sat down. He had absorbed himself in the discussion and soon forgot his troubles, talking to her. They decided on the decorations for the great hall and started on other matters, such as the placement of the mistletoe, which carols the armor should sing, and whether or not it was practical to make all the fires in the building burn red and green. (James thought it was a rather good idea.)

When the meeting ended, they stood up, once again awkward. Lily cleared her throat, nodded to James, and turned on her heel. Her long red hair followed her out of the room. James stood there for a moment, then walked out after her.


	13. Acheivement: Maturity Maybe

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Ron Weasley and the Spider of Doom… R.K. Jowling does. wait…

Note: I'll probably be switching POV a lot more now. Sorry if it's confusing! Also, as I might or might not have mentioned, I'll try to make this as un-angsty as possible. Sorry if you like that, but I find it stupid. ON the other hand, things might go kind of quickly. But maybe not…. Muahahaha.

James had asked Lily out countless times. But after a while, it just became second nature. It hadn't meant anything. But now, it was meaning something to James. He was thinking of trying his luck again.

"Give it a try, mate!" Sirius urged one day, as they lounged on their four-poster beds and studied.

"Maybe. I just… don't know why it's such a hard decision."

"So? Worst thing that happens is she says 'no'"

But Sirius didn't understand. This time, James was afraid of a 'no'. How could he ensure a 'yes'?

"By being mature" Remus told him when James asked for advice.

"Haven't I been?"

"Yes, but you need to ask her out maturely."

"Why wouldn't she say yes?" Wormtail piped up.

"I don't know how to do that!" James exclaimed.

"How did you ask Eleanor out?"

"I just said 'Eleanor, do you want to go to Hogsmead with me.' But that doesn't count. She would have said yes anyway, just because she wanted to get to Sirius."

"Like that would ever happen. Besides, you were only asking her to forget Lily."

"Like that would ever happen."

Lily was walking to the Library from Defense Against the Dark Arts. She wanted to look something up from the list of subjects to study for N.E.W.T.s that had been handed out in class.

She was just rounding the corner into the Library, when a wall confronted her. It wasn't a real wall, of course. It was Potter.

"Hello, Potter."

"Hi, Evans." Potter looked nervous.

"How are you?" Lily tried to be civil.

"Fine. Say, Evans. I was wondering… uh… if you wanted to go to Hogsmead with me this weekend?"

Lily was dumbstruck. Her heart thundered one deep note in her chest.

"Oh."

It looked like she'd been wrong about Potter being over her. She was just about to say 'no' when she stopped. She closed her mouth, and she stared up at him.

"I'll think about it." She heard herself saying.

She walked around him and went into the library. She found the bookshelf where the information she sought should be, but she just set her bag down and sat on the carpeted floor. Why had Potter done this? Why was she reacting this way? He was just trying to be annoying, as usual. Why was she considering saying yes? Only to be dumped within a week? To ruin the professional relationship they'd created? Or maybe... just maybe… did she like James Potter?

Lily hit herself on the forehead with a book. It made a dull thunking noise that rattled Lily's brain.

"Ow." She moaned, rubbing her head. The hard leather cover had given her a headache.

She heard Madam Pince prowling about in the next row over, so she quickly stood up and picked up her book. She was walking toward the tables by the time the librarian made it to her aisle.

"Ha! I knew you would!" Padfoot cheered.

He was reclining, hansom as ever, on his bed, his book on his chest. James Was on his stomach, mechanically turning the pages of a book he was supposed to be reading for charms.

"It's not like it's an uncommon occurrence." Remus murmured, not looking up from the book he was actually reading.

"Yeah, but he just dumped his girlfriend."

"I've had those before, too."

"But they weren't serious."

"This one wasn't exactly intense, honestly"

"But you only got into it to get Lily out of your head."

"Yeah. That worked well."

"Anyway, back to what you were saying. What did she say?" Remus diverted them back to the main subject.

"She said she'd think about it."

"She said WHAT?" Sirius sat up, his book falling off of his chest.

"She said she'd think about it."

"She said WHAT?"

"She said she'd think about it. Then she just walked away."

"She said WHAT?"

"I don't know what she meant…"

"I think she meant that the maturity thing's working." Remus commented.

"She said WHAT?"

"Really? Do you think so? James said hopefully, ignoring his best friend.

"Sure."

"But wait…" a thought occurred to James. "That means that she doesn't really like me. She just likes who I'm pretending to be."

Deviating from his old line of questioning, Sirius spoke up, "Who cares, mate? This is Evans. You would do anything to go out with her."

"Not if she only likes the guy she thinks I am."

"And the fact that you're concerned about that is the very reason why I think she likes you." Remus put in, as Sirius was too busy staring at James like a fish.

"Huh?"

"I mean, that's quite a mature thought to have." Moony shrugged, unable to explain what he was getting at.

But James though he'd caught on. "You mean you think I am mature?"

Remus nodded.

"Sure, mate." Sirius put in. "You're head boy, aren't you?"

James gaped at his friend. "So you mean that Lily might… actually like me?"

His friends nodded in affirmation, their faces serious, but on the brink of smiling.

"YES!" roared James, standing up and punching the air with his fist before falling back on his bed.

Now his friends were really smiling. And James was smiling widest at the ceiling. His glasses were knocked askew from his antics.

It was like this that Lily found them in their dormitory. She had timidly, after much deliberation, ascended the stairs to tell Potter that McGonagall had approved their final decisions for the Christmas feast.

"Uhhh…" Their heads snapped toward the door. Potter sat up.

Lily felt self-conscious. It seemed she had walked in on something. Potter was sprawled on his bed, looking carefree and untidy as ever. She was over-thinking this, of course. Potter hadn't meant anything by asking her out.

"I just came to tell you that McGonagall approved our plans for the feast."

Something changed in Potter's face. Was he confused? Crest-fallen? Why? Didn't he want to have their plans approved?

"Okay. Brilliant."

Lily stood there awkwardly for a little, then turned her back on them and walked out oft the threshold. She didn't see Lupin and Black exchanging looks behind her back. She didn't see Potter's eyes on her back. All she was thinking was that Potter didn't seem to think that her news was 'brilliant'.

"Tough, Mate." Padfoot commented as James flopped back onto his pillows.

"I really thought she'd come to tell me… something."

"She did tell you something. And just because it wasn't an answer, doesn't mean there won't be one." Moony pointed out, but he didn't seem so sure of himself.

Meanwhile, in her own dorm, Lilly Evans was hitting herself on the forehead repeatedly with her copy of 'Hogwarts, A History', newly rebound.

Somehow, she had to get James Potter out of her mind.

Note: There needs to be a 'dun dun dun' after that last line. Sound familiar, much? ;)


	14. Deer in the headlights

Disclaimer: ɹǝʇʇod ʎɹɹɐɥ uʍo ʇ,uop ı

Note: So… the last chapter was fun. I regret to say that our friend James will not have his dreams come true yet… but do not despair! This IS a love story… or will be… be patient! Thank you so much to all my reviewers. I"m too lazy to list you, but some of those reviews were the best I've ever gotten! Sorry it took me so long to post all this. Happy Thanksgiving (sorry, I'm American.) Happy I-wanted-to-post-this-when-the-movie-came-out-but-it-wasn't-ready-my-bad day!

"Who are you staring at?" Asked Eleanor one day, as they sat in the great hall.

"No one." Lily's gaze snapped back to her book.

Of course, she had been staring at someone.

And his name was Potter. James. Bloody. Potter.

She was dying to say yes, but her judgment held her back. She didn't want to get hurt. Yes, she realized. She didn't want to get hurt. It was better not to care.

Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Wait. She was getting ahead of herself, here. Did she care?

Of course she didn't. Why should she?

It didn't make sense.

Lily's eyes came back into focus and she read.

"Damn it! I can't focus!" Swore Sofia, who was sitting across from Lily.

"Me neither." Sighed Lily.

Eleanor stared at her. "You, Lily, the brightest witch at Hogwarts, can't focus. Something's going on."

"Nothing's going on, El. I just can't focus." Lily's tone was short and irritated. Her face was turning red.

"But you can always focus!" Retorted Eleanor, noticing her friend's fluster.

"But I can't focus now, so I've just proven that you're wrong." Lily argued.

"Whatever. What are you guys doing for break?" Sofia broke in.

"I'm going home." Eleanor replied lazily. She was the only girl in her family. Her two younger brothers were still in Muggle grade school, being half bloods. Her family adored her and she went home over practically every Holiday.

"I'm staying here. Petunia will be home for Christmas, and my Mum and dad wanted me to be home, too. But I told them I'd stay and study. They didn't really understand, though…" Lily contemplated her family out loud. This happened most of the time. Her parents also adored her, but her sister's glares made her feel so dirty and unloved, that Home wasn't exactly a welcoming place anymore.

"I'm staying, too!" Sofia bounced up and down in her seat.

"I'm staying over break." Mary set her books down and slid onto the bench next to Sofia, across from Eleanor.

"I think Alice is going to Frank Longbottom's house for Christmas." Eleanor supplied for their absent friend. They all glanced over to where Alice sat, knee to knee with her boyfriend, as they read over each other's shoulders. It was very cute, really.

"… ing at Hogsmead. My Mum always loved Honeydukes." Rosalie was saying.

"I already did most of my Shopping." Mary commented. Mary was a very practical shopper, unlike Sofia.

"My mum told me that if I sent her one more owl apologizing for forgetting to buy her a Christmas present, she'd disown me. So I picked out an old bracelet of hers that she never wears and I shipped it yesterday." Eleanor detested shopping and avoided it at all costs. Her mother bought her clothes and she just transfigured them to suit her. She never bought anyone presents if she could help it, but treated them to butter beers at the Three Broomsticks at the closest Hogsmead visit.

"I had to do my shopping over the summer. I tried giving Mum and Dad and Petunia magical presents my first year at Hogwarts. It didn't go down too well."

"Oh, well. They don't know what they're missing." All being Half- or Pureblood wizards, her friends didn't really understand.

Movement caught Lily's eye. Sirius Black was standing up.

"WHAT?" He was yelling.

"Mr. Black!" cried McGonagall, glaring at him.

His friends shushed him and pulled him down, continuing their conversation.

McGonagall glared at him, and yelled across "Detention, Mr. Black!" before sitting down.

Lily turned back to her friends, but everyone in the hall was throwing covert glances at the boys at the end of the table.

* * *

"WHAT?" Padfoot yelled.

"Mr. Black!" cried McGonagall, glaring at him.

James, Remus, and Peter shushed him and pulled him down, continuing their conversation.

"Shhhhhh. What's your problem, mate?"

McGonagall continued to glare at Sirius , and yelled across the hall, "Detention, Mr. Black!" before sitting down.

"So much for privacy." James commented, glaring at those who were staring. Out of habit, he looked over at Lily Evans's table. She was ignoring him, like she always had.

"Yeah. But back on topic, you want to prank… Evans?"

"I don't know what the hell I want. I'm just frustrated." James complained, making eye contact with Remus.

"WA—" Sirius began before James clapped a hand over his mouth.

"Shut it."

"Don't do it, James. It'll ruin your chances." Remus advised.

"Like I had any chances in the first place." James sighed. So, it was back to this again.

"'Course you do, mate!" Sirius attempted to be serious (no pun intended.) Having never been refused, he couldn't really comprehend what James was going through.

"No. I don't think so. I blew it. I asked her too early."

"It was the honest thing to do." Remus said. "Now you're not hiding anything from her."

"I don't know what to do."

Lily had noticed a lot of uncertainty hanging in the air. Eleanor couldn't decide if she wanted to go ahead and work for the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures after all, or wanted to find a position at the Daily Prophet. Alice couldn't decide whether to buy Frank something romantic or something practical. Rosalie couldn't decide whether to go to France or Norway first when she went on her trip after graduation. Potter didn't seem to know how to act when they went on rounds. He spoke slowly, as if Lily would bite him if he said one thing wrong.

And maybe she would. That was where my uncertainty was—did she like Potter? Of course not. So what would she do?

Lily took the plunge two days before the scheduled Hogsmead visit.

"Potter," she approached him, as he was studying alone in the common room that evening. Where were his friends?

"Yes?" he looked up a little too quickly and innocently; he looked like a deer in the headlights.

"I—I'm sorry." She spluttered. A look of dismay spread across his face.

"Wha—"

"The answer's no."

Feeling terrible, she turned around and walked off, ignoring the forlorn look on Potter's face.

Neither the Head boy or Head Girl slept that well that night. James was too sad to think, and Lily didn't know what to do. She was scared at how guilty she felt. Finally, the idea came to her. If Potter could do it, so could she. She would find someone else. But who?


	15. Roadkill

Disclaimer: Ⓘ ⓓⓞⓝ'ⓣ ⓞⓦⓝ Ⓗⓐⓡⓡⓨ Ⓟⓞⓣⓣⓔⓡ.

Note: Yay! Thanks! I'm really writing this whole story as I go and it's really a 'mental workout' as you could say! Thank you so much for all your support. I've been getting a lot of reviews and story alert/subscriptions, even a couple 'favorite stories' and a few 'favorite authors' and I am SO flattered. Okay, mushiness aside, here's this next chapter to be finished asap.

Lily pushed through the bile of sleep and sat up, groggily. She'd just had a really good dream. There was this voice—but her memory faded and the dream was lost. Oh, well.

Her mind turned to the problem that had occurred to her last night. He question was—who? She walked down to the common room, and read the message board. She was just taking down a flyer for cheap dung bombs (which were of course banned. Obviously it was a younger prankster who had attempted to open a market.) when loud voices broke out by the couches.

"—Have a chance to win."

"I don't know. If that keeper of yours fails…"

"I chose him because he's got good reflexes. He'll pull through."

"But he's so small. Hufflepuff's chasers have been working together for years."

"Honestly, Padfoot. You're worried about Hufflepuff?" Potter mocked his friend.

They were talking about Quidditch as usual.

"Nah. But they still might score enough to put us off." Black fidgeted.

"No worries. That seeker of theirs… Diggory… he's an idiot. A real pompous prat. Remember we pranked him once?" A sly smile spread across both faces.

"Yeah. That was good. "

"Come on. Let's go to breakfast. I'm starving." Remus seemed pale and worried. Maybe his mother had gotten sick again? She seemed to do that quite regularly. Or maybe he was sick himself?

Lily knew this Amos Diggory. He was indeed a little boastful… but could he be the key to her plan? Lily slunk out of the common room, the image of a certain Hufflepuff in mind.

"Amos… can I speak with you?" Lily asked, intercepting him as he exited Charms class. He was in her year. He was not tall, but he was taller than her. She could see that a scruffy brown beard was growing in the shadows of his chin. He wore glasses and his Hogwarts school robes.

"Sure, Lily. Did you get the patrol schedule?" He stepped to the side, out of the doorway, and stood there talking to her.

"Potter's doing that. So no, I was going to ask if you wanted to go to Hogsmead with me?" Lily explained. This wasn't so hard.

Amos puffed out his chest a little. "Sure. Meet you at the entrance hall at eight?"

"Okay."

James lay on his bed, arms at his sided, staring up at the ceiling. It was all for nothing. He was back to where he had started. He refused to believe that there was something wrong with himself. He had been stupid, and now he was paying for it.

"James!" Sirius came tearing into the room. "Evans just asked Amos Diggory out!"

"WHAT!" roared James. He leapt to his feet.

"That's my line." Pouted Sirius, crossing his arms.

"Ha. Ha. Not funny!"

"You could have been more considerate." Padfoot teased, playing the victim.

"Sirius! Shut the hell up and tell me what happened!"

"How can I tell you anything if I shut up?"

James half groaned half snarled and fell back on his bed. This. Year. Sucked.

Note: Sorry it's really short, but (a) I wanted to get this posted and (b) I thought it was a funny place to stop. The next chapter will either be short, too, to fill in the gap, or really long. In any case, I hope you enjoyed. Reviews welcome!


	16. Mistakes were made

Disclaimer: I ran out of ideas for interesting disclaimers… so all I can say is I am only borrowing Harry Potter. I'll give it back! I promise!

Note: Okay. Well. I have a couple things to say: 1) thank you all for the lovely reviews and support! 2) You may have noticed that in the beginning, there was a character called 'Sofia' and now there is a character called 'Rosalie' who looks a lot like Sofia. Well, that's because I had some sort of major brain-fart and I changed her name. So, each chapter is going under construction to change that. Anywhere you have seen 'Rosalie' will now be 'Sofia'. Sorry if it's confusing! I did something stupid! If you have questions, put them in a review.

Alice and Mary helped Lily prepare for her 'date' as they called it. Sofia tried to help, but Lily flat out refused to wear all the tight, revealing, loud, and funky things Sofia pulled out of her chest.

"No way am I going to wear that, Sofie. Why don't you just watch?" Lily whined, pushing the bubblegum pink, faux-fur lined jacket that would look fabulous on Sofia, but disgusting with Lily's red hair and pale skin.

Not to be put out, Sofia sat down and began suggesting hairstyles.

"How about this, Lily?" Mary asked, taking out a navy blue sweater.

"Really, Mary? I was just going to dress like myself. That would look gorgeous on you, though."

"It's your first date. You should look your best." Alice said, tossing a slinky purple long-sleeved thing away.

"How about I just wear jeans and a blouse?"

"No jeans." Mary told her.

Before she knew what was happening, she had been forced into a green button-up shirt and black dress pants. Her feet had even been stuffed into a pair of Mary's boots.

She walked down the entrance hall, feeling abused. Her hair was pulled into a tight ponytail and decorated with a flowery clip.

"You look great" Amos commented as they turned toward the entranceway.

Not, Lily thought, but she said "Thanks".

Hogsmeade was covered in snow, but the warm weather caused the icicles to drip. On the way to the village, Amos talked about his future career as head of the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures. When they got to Main Street, Lily interrupted his monologue to ask him where he wanted to go.

"Three Broomsticks?" Amos suggested, them went off on an explanation of his broomstick and his past Quidditch triumphs.

"What'll you have, dears?" asked Madame Pamela.

"Two butter beers, please." Amos told her confidently.

Lily didn't object. She usually got a butter beer here anyway. She didn't go for anything stronger. Clearly, she and Amos was a harmonious couple.

Little did Lily know, she was being followed. James hid under his invisibility cloak and walked behind them all the way to Hogsmead. He scoffed when Diggory complimented her. He saw when she rolled her eyes slightly. And she was right, of course. She looked like a mix between all her friends but with red hair. Not at all like her. He zoned out as Diggory droned on about himself. Pompous prat. He realized this would seem stalker-ish. But it was all part of the plan. When Evans and Diggory finished their beers, they walked out onto Main Street. Potter got his wand out and held it at the ready.

"_auris mobilis_" Whispered James, pointing his wand at Diggory.

"WHAT THE—" Diggory cried, for his ears had begun to twitch madly.

"_Densaugeo_"

"AHHHHH!" Diggory's teeth started growing at an alarming rate.

"_Antioculatia_" Potter topped off his prank.

Lily cried out, her voice joining Diggory's as antlers sprouted from his head.

"We've got to get you to the Hospital wing!: Potter heard Lily cry, herding a screaming Diggory towards Hogwarts.

Diggory stayed in the hospital wing for about a week. James avoided Evans for a while, but when she made no attempt to come after him, he relaxed. This was a mistake.

"Potter!" Lily hailed him from down the corridor.

"Evans." He said, concealing his thoughts.

"You are an arrogant, selfish prat!"

"I beg your pardon?" James did his best to look affronted.

"Is that really all you care about? He didn't do anything wrong to you! Couldn't you have played fair?"

"Evans—what are you talking about?"

"Amos!"

"Huh?" James was truly confused now. What did Evans mean, 'play fair' and 'all you care about'.

"Don't you play innocent! I know you hexed him last week. You know you're better than he is, why couldn't you have proven it later and waited rather than playing dirty!"

What was she playing at? "Me, better than Him? Evans—what?"

"Don't you lie! I heard you talking to Black about it. Honestly, Potter. If you're that desperate to win the Quidditch Cup—"

Oh. So that's what she meant. She thought this was about Quidditch. James fought back the urge to laugh.

"Don't be stupid, Evans." That shut her up. "This wasn't about Quidditch. It was a prank to get revenge."

"Really, Potter? I thought you were more mature than that."

"What, Qudditch is more mature than revenge?"

"No. I thought you were more mature than to lie. Tell me: What did he do to offend you?" She snapped.

"He stole you." The words popped out of James's mouth before he could stop them. He flushed a little, but said nothing. Just met her eyes.

"Oh!" Lily gasped, and ran away from him, leaving him standing in the busy corridor.

"He stole you." Potter said simply.

"Oh!" gasped Lily, turning bright red. It hadn't occurred to her that Potter would be jealous. She had obviously thought this through.

Needing to get away from Potter, she fled, weaving through the crowd.

Note: Sorry this took so long. My Internet was down. I'm thinking of writing a short one-shot from the point of view of Quirrel as he died. What do you think?


	17. Brace yourselves

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.

Note: I'm so so so so so so so sorry for not updating! It's been an extremely busy few weeks for me, including a trip to Iowa and the end of the school semester. Thanks to those who review.

Damn it! He had done it again. Bloody James Potter and the way he turned her head around. Lily lay on her bed, Transfiguration papers spread around her, mingling with her loose red hair and various quills.

Eleanor came in.

"Hey, Lily."

"Hey."

"How are you?"

"Fine."

"I heard your boyfriend grew antlers."

"Yup." Anger flashed across Lily's already boiling emotions, but her head was in too much turmoil to lash out.

"Sounds like Potter."

"Yup."

"Well… he does like Quidditch." Eleanor sounded like she was just making the obvious justification, which she was.

"That's not why he did it." Lily said in a flat voice.

"No?"

"No."

"No!"

"No."

"No." Now Eleanor was just playing with her.

"No."

"Why, then? I mean, this is James Potter we're taking about." Eleanor sounded falsely inquisitive.

"Don't play dumb. You know why."

"Well… yeah. But can you blame him?" Eleanor still wasn't being straight with her.

"Yes. But what do you mean?" Lily retorted.

"Jealousy is a powerful thing. When Black just moved on after I dumped him, I felt jealous, even though I'd broken up with _him_." Eleanor explained.

"Are you jealous now?" Lily sat up, curiosity diverting her and also giving her a handy way to change the subject.

"A little. But I'm fine. Really. But James isn't me. He can't control his emotions, can't you see?"

"I thought he could. He was so mature. And then…" Lily made a limp gesture to indicate Potter's reversion.

"Love makes people do strange things… oh, god. I feel so corny saying that. But I guess it's true in some ways." Eleanor corrected herself.

"But that wasn't strange for Potter. He's exactly the kind of person who would hide behind a bush and hex someone." Lily protested.

"Exactly. Which makes it even more strange that he was as mature as he was for a while." Eleanor seemed to have an answer for everything.

"What's your point?" Lily wanted to know.

"My point is that he really likes you." Eleanor said.

"Honestly, Eleanor." Lily rolled her eyes. "I think we figured that out years ago."

"No. I mean he really really really likes you."

"What's the difference?" Lily asked, exasperated.

"I mean… it's like… I don't know what I mean. It's just… I think it's worth giving him a chance."

"Okay…. Eleanor…" Lily began, out loud. " We're forgetting one thing. My boyfriend is currently getting ready for a Quidditch match against Potter. And up until recently, he had antlers."

The hilarity only then struck her. She realized that she had gotten herself into a mess. She had meant to get rid of Potter. Instead, she had just made him jealous.

Well good riddance, part of her said. Potter deserves to know what it's like no be turned down.

Wouldn't he already know that, considering that that's what she had done for the past four-ish years? Hadn't he suffered enough?

It wasn't her job to put him out of his misery. She could date whoever the hell he pleased and he'd better get over it. It was none of his business, anyway. People got jealous all the time. That's the way Hogwarts worked. Why was this situation any different?

She sighed.

It was different because he was Potter. He thought he was so much better than anyone else. Hadn't he proved that again and again? But this year it was different. This year he'd been better.

"It's nearly time for the Quidditch match. Are you coming?" Eleanor asked.

Eleanor was an avid Quidditch fan, though she didn't play. Lily found the game mildly interesting but not worth obsessing over. She went to games when the weather was nice and there were no big tests coming up. She considered, and figured she may as well.

"Sure. It's not too cold out today. Let me get my scarf."

This Hufflepuff versus Gryffindor meant more to James Potter than any Hufflepuff game ever had. Of course, every game was high-stakes when you were captain, and even the outcome of a game against Hufflepuff, who usually came in last, could dictate who won the Cup.

As James adjusted his chaser's gloves and waited for his team to get ready, he felt the adrenaline coursing through his veins. He was going to pummel Diggory. He'd show him. He hoped Lily was in the stands.

"Okay, everyone. Gather round." He stood in front of the chalkboard, which showed a diagram of the field.

"Ready, captain?" asked Michelle Gonagall, a fifth-year who was returning to the team for her second year as a chaser.

"You betcha. I feel like we're going to get some good goals today." James told her, grinning.

"What's the plan, mate?" asked Andrew Wood, the Keeper who had joined the team the same year as James. Being the only other seventh year on the team, he treated James with a more casual respect than the other team members, as he was less in awe of him.

"The pitch is in fine condition. They've spelled the balls not to frost up as well as the hoops and field. The temperature's not bad. Even so, McGonagall gave me these heating charms to give to each of you. Standard issue." He handed them each the enchanted buttons, each with a scarlet ribbon.

"The sun's bright and clear. Beaters, you can use that. Chasers, too. Try to get the angle right so they won't see you coming." The four players indicated nodded.

"But that could be a problem for Andy and Sam." Sam, the seeker, was a small fourth year that James had found this year. He was quiet, but dedicated. James had rather taken a liking to him, despite his serious expression. It took a while for him to develop any aggressiveness, but after Sirius had come to watch practice one day and shouted enough insults, he had toughened up. He had caught the snitch right from under the Ravenclaw seeker's nose last game, and James was hoping for another great performance.

"So, Andy, I want you to be extra cautious. If you accidentally turn in the wrong direction because you can't see, we're doomed."

"Aye-aye, boss."

"Also, Sam, I want a long game. We need enough points to pull ahead. Don't cath the snitch until we're way up. Right?"

"I'll do my best, sir." Sam told him solemnly.

"Right. Chasers, you hear that? I want that Quaffle to feel like it's going home every time it goes through the hoop."

A general chorus of assent met this from his fellow chasers, so he shouldered his broom and led them out onto the field.

Note: Okay. There's a long list of reasons why I haven't updated. Some are listed above, but the main reason is so good I had to save it to the end. I was in Morocco. :D So, this chapter's on it's way out, and I'll get another in in a couple days. I'm nervous about writing a Quidditch chapter, but that's what's gonna happen. Also, special thanks to GreenGirl111 for all the feedback.


	18. Progress

Disclaimer: I disclaim.

Note: Whooee. I'll try to get this up asap to make up for my long silence. Best way to fight jetlag? Write fanfiction. :D Thanks to last chapter's reviewers. Also, some of you requested fluffiness. You may be disappointed, but it will come. I promise.

The stands erupted as the two teams walked on to the field. James walked forward and smugly offered his hand to Isaac Smith, the snide Hufflepuff keeper and captain. He shot a cocky glance at the rest of the Hufflepuff team. It was all a show, of course. Intimidate them.

"Mount your brooms" came the command.

The balls were each released in turn, and they were up in the air. James zoomed forward and caught the Quaffle first, passing it to Michelle on his left. She shot forward, towards the end of the pitch.

"Oh! And a nice interception there by Hatting! Passes to Faulks… and a bludger in the head from Marin of Gryffindor! He drops the Quaffle, taken by Potter! Look at him go!"

James zoomed towards the goals, straight down the center.

"Oh! That was close!"

He rolled to dodge a beater, and in doing so, dropped the Quaffle to where Terin Higgs, the third Gryffindor chaser was hovering several yards below. Higgs zig-zagged forward, but Faulks and Kittage boxed him in, elbowing him.

"Surely that's a foul!"

"Cobbing!"

"Blow the damn whistle!"

The Gryffindors shouted from the stands. Sure enough, the whistle blew. James took the penalty and tucked the first goal of the game in.

"It's Ten-Oh to Gryffindor! Gonagall takes the Quaffle and heads down the field! Passes to Higgs! Back to Gonagall! Heading towards Potter! OH! Potter takes a bludger and drops the Quaffle! Looks like he's not hurt, so the game continues."

James, in fact, was hurt, But not more than bruised. He'd taken worse. It was just too bad he hadn't seen it. As he sped off to take the Quaffle from Kitting, he heard a gasp. Straining his ears to hear the commentary but focusing on getting to the hoops, he flew up and approached the hoops from the left field, into the sun.

"It looks like Diggory's seen something! Amos Diggory, in a steep dive there! Samuel Dawson catching up! Well, he's smaller than Diggory. Is it the snitch?"

James scored with the help of the sun and Smith's distraction. Meeting the Quaffle on the other side of the posts, he tried again, but Smith had his act together. Speeding after Hatting, James tuned the commentary out. He had to get as many goals as he could and hope that Sam could either catch the snitch or- better yet- stop Digorry from getting it but not getting it himself.

"Dawson pulls ahead there. He's leading by head and shoulders! Oh! He pulls out of his dive and the bludger, hits Diggory! And there's Smith, yelling at Jenkins. Gonagall takes advantage of that! Puts the Quaffle through the hoop, and it's Thirty-nil to Gryffindor, and the snitch has disappeared!"

James gritted his teeth. Things were looking good, but it was too early in the game to tell.

The crowd cheered and booed, respectively. Sympathies were divided in this game.

"Gonagall heading towards the goal again! OH! She dodges Faulks but drops the Quaffle! Barely managing to stay on there! Kittage picks it up! Potter going after him! Dodges a bludger, Here comes Wood, Gryffindor Keeper, and he… stops it, but just barely! Faulks dives down, gets the quaffle, Isn't that stooging? No… Kittage backed out, but now he's back in possession and… Wood misses by the fingertips! Thirty-Ten, still to Gryffindor!.

The game progressed for a while. After some time, the score was tied up with a hundred and ten points each, when the seekers went in to another dive. Most players stopped to watch, but James and Michelle rallied and managed to score another goal, pulling ahead.

"Is something wrong with Diggory?"

Diggory was now less than a hundred feet off the ground, but was still in a straight nosedive. He crashed into the frozen turf. Sam pulled up and snatched the Golden snitch out of the air, then landed to see if Diggory was al right. They had won by a hundred and fifty-two points. It wasn't much of a lead, but it was enough. They were ahead.

"Out of my way, out of my way!" McGonagall pushed through the crowd, trying to geth to the fallen player. James's chest heaved triumphantly. Diggory wasn't too badly injured, but he'd wake up feeling like an idiot. After all, If one player stays on the broom and one player falls off, it doesn't take a genius to know who was the better flyer. James looked over at Sam.

"Party in the common room?" he suggested, knowing that Padfoot would already be setting up.

"Yeah." Sam smiled, and the team trooped indoors.

"Out of my way, out of my way!" McGonagall pushed through the crowd.

"Excuse me! Pardon me! Sorry!" Lily repeated, weaving and pushing through the crowd to get to Amos. Was he okay? Was she, as his girlfriend, supposed to go into hysterics? She felt worried, but she was a practical girl. She didn't think she could pull off the drama.

When she finally heaved herself into the middle of the crowd that had gathered on the field, she saw Amos laying down, his eyes open, one of his legs twisted at an odd angle, his breathing shallow.

"Broken leg. Probably some cracked ribs, too." McGonagall guessed, conjring up a stretcher and levitating Amos onto it. "Back to the Hospital wing for Digory, it seems."

"Always said it was mad to have them play in the winter like this." Professor Edgecombe commented, still wearing his tatty earmuffs he wore to repot mandrakes. "Bad for plants and kids alike."

"Yes. I agree, Geoffrey. I plan to talk to the headmaster about this. It's obvious his crash was due to some malfunction of the anti-frost on his broomstick."

"Are they going to reschedule the Quidditch season, then, Professor?" Asked one of the players, all of who were now on the ground, holding their brooms and looking whey-faced.

"I hope so, Mr. Smith. Now, if you please, let me through." McGonagall marched forward, the stretcher floating in front of her. Lily and some others trailed after her, only to be shooed away by Madam Pomfrey, the young Nurse.

Lily went to the only place she could think of… the library. She worked off her stress by applying herself to her N.E.W.T.S. It was here that James found her, her head on an open book, fast asleep. James had not yet changed out of his Quidditch robes. After sitting on one of the couches, watching Sirius trying to get drunk on butterbeer as Peter laughed obsequiously and Moony hid in the dormitory.

Various Gryffindors had come to congratulate him, but he had thrust all the credit on Sam. Tired and confused, he sat there moodily.

He had beaten Diggory. What now? Maturity had failed. Revenge had set him back even further. Evans obviously did not love him and he was beginning to despair that she ever would.

Maybe it wasn't too late to be her friend. James knew that no matter what, he would not let Lily Evans go. In fact, he'd better go talk to her right now. Where… he looked around. She wasn't there. Ah. The library. Of course. Standing up, and looking around to make sure he was unnoticed, he slipped out the portrait hole.

Rounding the corner into the silent library, he spotted a pile of red hair on top or one of the wooden tables. Walking over, he sat down across from her and waited patiently for her to wake up, examining her long red eyelashes and clear forehead out of habit.

She did so with a start, about thirty seconds after he sat down.

"Potter! What?" She looked like a startled animal.

"You weren't in the Common room. I figured you'd be here."

"Why do you care where I go?" her voice was not openly belligerent, but it was terse.

"Considering your… boyfriend… has been in the hospital wing a lot lately, partially because of me, I feel obligated to check up on you." He told her, thinking on his feet.

She looked puzzled. "Was that… an apology?"

"Erm, I guess."

She gave him a half-smile.

"So… um, back to professional acquaintances?"

Lily stared at him. "That… just doesn't sound right anymore."

James mentally crossed his fingers. "Friends?"

Lily considered. "That would include staying out of my love life, right?" she asked.

"Well, I can still act the concerned friend, can't I?" James amended.

"Hmmm… I'll settle for that. Friends." She held out her hand across the table.

James broke into a grin. She was willingly letting him touch her—if only her hand. He took it in his. It was small, slim, and soft.

"Friends."


	19. Winter Holidays

Disclaimer: I'm just not cool enough to own Harry Potter. I take no credit for it or anything attached to it.

Note: Okay! I've got the next leg of the story planned out. (Did I ever mention that I'm writing this as I go? I mean, everyone knows what will happen in the end.) The next few chapters might not be too fluffy though. I was just reading this story that was like plot for the first chapters and then one sexually tense moment after the other for the next 8 chapters. So I'm kind of scarred. Sorry if this chapter is kind of boring at first. Keep going! It's a crucial plotpoint!

Amos got out of the Hospital wing the next day. He limped a little the first day, and Lily made an effort to let him lean on her arm. But he was taking many different classes then she, including Care of Magical Creatures, History of Magic, and Muggle Studies as well as Herbology and Defense against the Dark arts.

Lily found her new friendship with Potter more of a relief than anything else. Instead of avoiding him or holding him off, it was kind of nice to talk to him. He was actually capable of holding interesting conversations about school, current events, and himself. Lily had had no idea that his ambition matched hers—to become an auror.

They were having a conversation about auror training as they walked to dinner one day in the week that followed the Quidditch game, when they met Amos coming up from the Hufflepuff common room.

He stopped short in the middle of the hallway, frowning.

James and Lily stopped, too; Lily to talk to her boyfriend, James because Amos was blocking the way.

"Hi Amos!" Lily greeted cheerfully, hoping that her being friends with James would prevent conflict. James's face betrayed nothing and Amos looked grumpy.

"Hey, Lily. How are you today?" his voice didn't match his expression. It was quite casual.

"Fine. McGonagall gave us a lot of Homework over the holidays." Break was only four days away!

"Yeah. I've got the same."

"Did you hear back from your Mum about me coming over?" Lily asked, trying not to sound rude. She was always looking for an excuse to stay away from her house during school holidays. Her parents always loved having her there, but death glares from Petunia were usually too much.

"Yeah. I got the owl this morning. We're going to my uncle's, so it's a no."

Lily sighed. Oh, well. Maybe she could go back to the old I-need-to-study excuse. N.E.W.T.S were coming up, anyway.

"Oh well. Have fun."

"Yeah. Were you just heading down to dinner?"

"Yes, actually. Care to join us?"

Amos shifted his eyes to James at the word 'us'.

"Yeah. Alright."

And so they fell into step, Lily in the middle with Amos's arm wrapped around her shoulders, James walking in silence on their right.

When they got to the Great Hall, James mumbled an excuse and speed-walked over to where Sirius sat prominently with Remus and Peter Pettigrew hanging on.

"What are you playing at, being friends with Potter?" hissed her boyfriend, leaning down to close the height distance between them.

"What do you mean?" Lily hissed back, confused and annoyed.

"You know what I mean. This is Potter."

"If you're talking about the antlers…" Lily began to retort, when he stopped her.

"You know what, never mind. What class do you have next?"

"Herbology." She stuttered, thrown off balance.

"Good. I have that too. I'll see you there." And he too walked away faster than normal.

Lily sighed and scanned the table for her friends. She found Mary and Alice sitting at the end of the table and joined them. Sofia made an appearance just long enough to grab a bite to eat—Peeves had held her up. Eleanor had left early. After dinner, they headed back up to the common room.

After banging her head against a brick wall (or so it felt) and trying to get down all the notes on chapter ten in her Charms book that Flitwick had assigned them, Lily retreated up to her dormitory.

Her house-mates found her there, sound asleep.

The next day, Lily sat up, groggily and went to wash her face. She then pulled on her school robes, put her hair into some kind of order, and walked back out. Mary, Alice, and Sofia were getting up, choosing their outfits, and putting on makeup. Eleanor was nowhere to be seen, but a large lump was visible under her covers. As Lily watched and fought back a chuckle, a hand snaked out and pushed the pillow down, as if covering someone's ear.

"Hey, El!" Lily sat down on the bed.

"mmmmmmffffffhhhhhhh" groaned the pillow.

"You know what day it is?"

"MMMMMMFFFFFHHHHHH"

"Last day of school before break!" Lily told it.

"MMMMRRRRGGGGHHHH!" Eleanor sat up, long black hair floating around her.

"Nice bed head!" Lily smirked, getting up and heading downstairs. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Eleanor flop back onto her bed.

Before she got to the common room, she heard loud voices.

"..ALMOST OVER! SCHOOL'S ALMOST OVER!" Lily sighed.

"Black! Behave!" She ordered as she came down the stairs.

"Awwww. Come on, Evans!" Black whined, as Pettigrew nodded sycophantically.

"Listen to the lady, Padfoot!" Potter grinned, slinging an arm around Lily. "She's head girl, you know!"

"I had absolutely no idea!" Black replied, lazily.

"Grow a brain, Black!" Eleanor called, coming downstairs. Her hair was in only a little better shape.

"It looks like your brain exploded. Or is that your hair?" Black retorted, smirking at his ex-girlfriend.

"So funny I forgot to laugh" Eleanor quipped, turning away.

"Want to go get some breakfast, Lily?" She asked.

"Sure." Lily shrugged off James's arm and followed the other girl out of the portrait hole.

After a grueling Herbology final in the freezing cold Greenhouses, Lily tramped down the beaten path behind James and in front of Alice. Alice left once they got into the Great Hall to sit with Frank, and Lily found herself sitting down between James and Remus.

"So, you're staying for the holidays this year, James?" Remus asked, spooning stew into his mouth.

"Yup. Mum and Dad want me to stay focused on N.E.W.T.s. I think they also think it's safer for me… you know… what with all the problems the ministry's having."

Lily had been too busy studying to do more than pay the owl that delivered her Daily Prophet recently. She had absolutely no idea what Potter was talking about.

"What problems?" She now asked.

James stared at her. "I thought you wanted to be an auror, Lily."

"I do. That's why I've been studying so hard. We've been talking about how hard it is to get into auror training."

"It's the aurors that're having trouble. The giants are acting up, and so are the dementors." James explained, sounding serious.

Lily gaped.

"Oh no." was the first thing that popped out of her mouth.

"I read in The Prophet that Dumbledore says it's a single wizard that's behind it all." James continued.

"Dumbledore's a great wizard. Hogwarts will be safe as long as he's around." Remus stated.

"Do you think it's another Grindlewald?" Lily asked, referencing the great dark wizard who Dumbledore had defeated long ago.

"Sounds like it may be. But I'm not sure… Grindlewald never used Dementors." James said.

Peter listened to the conversation with interest, but Sirius seemed too busy eating to say anything.

When they got up to go, Lily saw Amos approaching.

"Lily, can I have a word?" he asked, glancing at her companions.

"Sure." Excusing herself, she followed him down a corridor as the others went upstairs.

James Potter wasn't fooled by Sirius's interest in the food. Waiting for the right time, he pulled his friend aside.

"What's up, Padfoot?" he asked, seriously.

"I don't know what you mean, Prongs." Sirius replied, coldly.

"Yeah, you do. Why didn't you talk at all during dinner?" James prodded.

"I did so talk!" Padfoot retorted.

"And then you clammed up once we started talking about… giants and dementors and whatnot!"

"Yeah, maybe I don't want to talk about soul-sucking monsters while I'm trying to eat!" Sirius's grey eyes flashed. James sighed and knew Sirius was now on his guard and wouldn't say anything.

"Come on, then. Let's keep Moony company. Full moon's in two days, and none of us are going home this year!"

Sirius brightened at the thought of romping about the Forbidden Forest in the snow.

"Yeah. Let's go!" the friends headed upstairs.

Amos took her hand as he led her to an empty ground-floor classroom that was sometimes used for examinations—Lily remembered doing her Charms O.W.L. practical in here. (She'd gotten an O, of course.)

Once Amos had shut the door, he turned around.

"What are you playing at?" he demanded, glaring, arms akimbo.

"Wh—what?" Lily stammered, looking up at him, confused.

"Hanging around with Potter! I think you owe me an explanation!" Amos's voice escalated.

"Why? Do you need to know who I talk to every second of the day?" Lily's cheeks flushed as her temper rose. She didn't like what she thought Amos was getting at here.

"This is different! This is Potter!"

"What's wrong with Potter?"

He looked at her disbelievingly.

"Oh, come on! We're friends!" she told him.

"Don't give me that!" He snapped. "Potter loves you!"

"So what if he does? I'm your girlfriend, not his!" she shouted, hurt that he could be so mistrusting.

"Are you sure Potter sees it that way? Are you sure you see it that way?"

"You'd think you could trust me to talk to other males! I confess! I talked to Professor Slughorn because I had questions about the homework! And I gave Jimmy Yates detention for charming the rugs to scream when stepped on! And I was sitting next to James Potter and Remus Lupin at lunch today! So send me to Azkaban!" she yelled, her face bright red, her hand on her own hips, now.

Amos stopped, drew in a deep breath, and put on what he thought was a calm, mature face that made Lily want to punch him. It was the 'I'm-going-pretend-that-I'm-the-bigger-man-here' type of face. Like a parent about to explain table manners to an unruly child.

"Look, Lily. I have our relationship's best interest in mind here. This is just a first fight."

Lily still fumed, but tried to look mollified.

"I say we go on Holiday and try to rethink our position. But remember what I said… Potter may not see things the way you do."

Lily nodded, and accepted his kiss on the cheek with one of her own. They parted at the Great Staircase, and Lily went to get her things. Maybe she could put a dent in her homework at the library and not have to worry as much about it over the holidays.

Note: **giggles** Diggory is a jerk, isn't he? Anyway, this took longer than I thought it would, so I tried to make it a long one. The plot is finally getting more compliacated.

I'm not really going to try to make this story any better. Next story I write, will have a plan and will hopefully be a lot better than this one. But this one isn't at all done! Anyway, can anyone guess what's up with Sirius?


	20. Christmas, part one

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.

Note: Thank you to all the reviewers! I'll try to update this soon!

The holidays were spent luxuriously. Not many Gryffindors had stayed, though more had than usual. There was a bit of uneasiness to it all, and an air of trying to ignore it. Lily had done all of her Holiday shopping over the summer, and had sent a school owl to Honeydukes to get some of their mail-order candy for her new friends. Now all that was left was a gift for Amos. She finally settled on a box of fancy quills. She was a practical girl, and hoped he would understand.

Once she had sent off Amos's, Alice's, her parent's, and Mary's gifts, she went to drop off her other presents where they would be sent to their recipients. It was two days until Christmas.

When she got to the common room, Remus was there, looking exhausted. He had been sick with flu yesterday, and Lily was glad to see he was better.

"Hey, Remus." She said, sitting on the couch, opposite.

He nodded, not looking at her.

"Hey, Moony!" Sirius clapped his friend on the back, sitting next to him. Remus scooted over, not looking at Sirius, either.

"Hi, Padfoot."

"Lily, did you get James anything?"

Lily frowned. Of course she had gotten James the candy, but she had also gotten Remus and (though grudgingly) Sirius the same.

"Why do you want to know?" she demanded, cautiously.

"Because he wasn't sure what to get you."

"Uhhh…" LIy didn't know what to say.

"What did you get him?" Sirius prompted.

"I shouldn't say…" Lily looked at him sideways.

"Fine. I'll just tell him you're getting him a rock."

"Wai—" Lily began, but Sirius was already crossing the room. "BLACK!" she yelled, and Remus looked at her.

Flopping back down on the couch, she grumbled "Stupid, annoying git."

Remus's tired face broke into a grin. "You forgot careless."

James gnashed his teeth together in frustration. Sirius had just told him that Lily was getting him a rock, which was not helpful at all. Would she mean it as a joke? Was she even getting him a rock? James sighed. What did you get a girl who wasn't your girlfriend but was still your friend, anyway?

Lily. Lily, Lily, Lily. What would she like? She liked books, or course. A book on rocks? James laughed, causing Peter, who was lying on his bed, to look up, startled. Turning away from Wormtail, James went back into thought.

She was interested in the Dark arts, of course. Maybe he could get her a book on the Dark Arts? Aurors? Or maybe… James hummed thoughtfully. Yes, there was an idea. And it wasn't too personal either. He went the owlery to fetch the bird his parents had given him in third year, whom he called Quaffle.

On Christmas day, Lily woke up to see a large pile of gifts at the foot of her bed. It was larger than usual; she supposed it was because of all the new friends she'd made this year. That struck her as funny for some reason, and smiled, the Christmas spirit soaking into her.

"'Morning, Lily!" chirped Sofia, reaching for her first present.

"Happy Christmas, Sofia." Lily replied, and laughed when Eleanor rolled over and groaned.

"Good Morning, Eleanor!" sang Sofia, teasingly.

"mmhhhffff."

Lily laughed as Sofia charmed Eleanor's pillow to float above her head and whack her.

"HMF! Gerrof!" Eleanor grabbed her wand for the bedside table, silently made the pillow stop, and sat up. "Happy Christmas to you, too." She grumbled, and reached for her first present.

"Gee, look at what Alice got me!" Sofia held up a lavender silk robe that cut off above the knees and hung loosely around the shoulders. "This is amazing!"

The girls oohed and ahhed. They poured over the bracelets that Mary had given each of them, The scarf Alice got for Lily, and Sofia squealed when she saw the hairclip Lily had picked up in a small shop over the summer.

Eleanor, of course, had given them large bags of candy, since she didn't usually shop for anything else. They hugged her all the same, knowing she'd have been dying to eat the chocolate frogs herself all week.

Lily's parents had gotten her a new coat, this one was a deep red in a similar style to her old one, but it was shorter and thicker. Petunia had gotten her a hideously ostentatious plastic necklace, which she set aside with a sigh. She opened a book on Potions and Magical Law Enforcement from Remus, and read the first chapter instantly. It was very well written and held all sorts of interesting facts about the morality of using Veritaserum in prosecution, and covered up uses of unforgivable curses. Setting it aside, reluctantly, she opened a bag of Zonko's products from Sirius, which made her laugh. He had some nerve. It seemed that Eleanor and Sofia had gotten the same. She reluctantly confiscated the banned ones, which was about half. There were two presents left; one was from Amos, one was from Potter. Figuring it would be more dramatically romantic if she left her Boyfriend's for last; she picked up James's present, which was wrapped in simple brown paper. "Lily—Happy Christmas" was the missive scrawled on the wrapping. Carefully unwrapping it, she found a small box. Opening that, she found a large marble—or was it a small globe? _Sneakoscope_ was the printed label, _Dark detector_. Reading the small pamphlet, she learned two things. One was that a sneakoscope was a very useful lie detector, and two was that it was a very, very thoughtful thing of Potter to give her. She felt guilty at only giving him candy. Pushing that thought aside, she reached for Amos's gift. Unwrapping it, she found a note and a brooch. It had a garnet and a yellow stone, probably topaz but maybe tourmaline on a silver charm shaped like a butterfly. She chain was also silver. Smiling fondly, she fumbled around before finally putting it on. Then, remembering the sneakoscope dilemma, she grabbed it and went downstairs.

James and his friends all woke up around the same time and started tearing open their presents with boyish abandon. Grinning at the extra large bag of Zonko's products from Sirius, the book on Quidditch from Remus, the candy from Peter and the fudge from his parents, he carefully opened the package from Lily. Was it a rock? No… too light. He opened it and glared at Sirius.

Like James, Sirius held a bag of candy. "Sorry mate. She wouldn't tell me anything. I guess this was why."

James groaned. Why hadn't he thought of candy? He must seem so presumptuous, getting her a dark detector. She must think he was an arrogant git, throwing his weight around. Tossing the bag of candy aside, he ran down the stairs, nearly colliding with Lily in the middle of the common room.

Note: I felt like I had to stop there for several reasons: one, it's a bit of a cliff hanger. Two, I should have posted this a week ago, but it wasn't finished. I'm off to start the next chapter right away.


	21. Christmas, part two

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Harry Potter.

Note: So… here the cliffhanger ends.

"James."

"Lily"

There was an awkward pause.

"I'm so sorry" Lily blurted

"It's all my fault." James cut in

"No really, I—"

"Honestly…" They stumbled over each other.

Lily drew in a deep breath.

"Thank you… for the sneakoscope. It's really lovely."

"No." James said.

Lily stopped short. "No… what?"

"No, it's not lovely. It was dumb of me. I'm sorry. It was… arrogant and presumptuous."

Lily stared at him. "No. It was a wonderful gift. I was the dumb one. The candy… its not like it looks… I didn't know what to get you… I tried, honestly I did!" she reached out and squeezed his arm.

"No! You did perfectly! I tried too hard!"

"Enough!" Lily burst out laughing. James stared at her for a second, then joined in.

"Listen to us!" she giggled.

"Friends?" he held out his hand.

"Friends." She affirmed, taking it and hugging him.

"Happy Christmas, James!" and she left him there once again.

Going downstairs, Lily sat at the Gryffindor table alone and ate a giant Christmas breakfast of waffles and bacon and many goblets of pumpkin juice. A few owls swooped in to deliver Christmas wishes to the few who had ventured down so far. One dropped a letter in front of Lily and proceeded to steal her bacon.

"Oh al right!" she fed it a piece. "shoo!" it flew off.

Turning to the letter, she recognized Amos's neat handwriting.

_Dear Lily,_

_ Happy Christmas! Thank you for the quills. A very thoughtful and practical gift, I must say. Remember what I said before holiday? Watch out for Potter. Did he get you anything? _

_ Yours, Amos._

Lily glared at the letter, then tucked it away. Amos could be a bit over-protective sometimes.

"Hi, Lily. Happy Christmas." Remus sat down next to her.

"Hi. You too."

After thanking each other for the gifts, they proceeded to discuss the homework, which they had both finished.

Their other friends, who insisted on a snowball fight, soon joined them. Remus followed the group as Lily ducked out and fled to the library.

Nodding to Madam Pince, she sat in a corner of the History of Magic section and picked out a book entitled "A Duel for the Greater Good" by Aralia Waggs. She had read it once before, in third year, but current events brought her back to the book.

The book was about the rise and fall of Grindlewald. It wasn't that informative, actually. No one really knew how he'd gotten so powerful or why… the book did speculate that he was mad, which didn't help Lily much. But certain words struck a familiar chord with her: _"Grindlewald rose to power rather quietly. He kept in the shadows until the last minute, causing fear. By the time he revealed himself, he had raised an army of supporters. After committing seemingly inhuman acts of power, he succeeded in securing power, officially beginning his reign of terror."_

The keeping to the shadows and raising an army were very familiar, and struck a feeling of dread into Lily. There was another wizard, a very dark one it seemed, who was currently in the shadows, killing who-knows-how-many people, and was recruiting. Sitting back, Lily wondered how long it would take Severus to join him.

Lily didn't need to read further. She knew the rest of the story well enough: Dumbledore had defeated Grindlewald in a duel. Could he do the same for He-who-must-not-be-named?

Leaving the library and wandering through the empty halls, listening to the echoes of singing armor and laughing student, Lily contemplated her future as an auror.

"Ah, Lily Evans. Our very own head girl." Lily had nearly walked right in to Dumbledore.

"Professor. Sorry. I wasn't paying attention."

"Quite understandable. The holidays are always distracting. But tell me, what is it on your mind?"

"I was just reading in the library-" Lily stuttered.

Dumbledore smiled but said nothing.

"I found the book I was reading…"

"Thought provoking?" put in the headmaster.

"Yes. Exactly."

"I too have been thinking deeply about a book recently recommended to me by a dear friend. But your thoughts seem troubled."

"Well, the book was about Grindlewald…" Lily told him. She had never had such a casual conversation with the headmaster.

"Ah. I see. Not a very happy topic." Dumbledore didn't seem too troubled. His blue eyes still twinkled. "Especially in light of recent events."

"Exactly, sir."

"Professor McGonagall tells me that it is your ambition to become an auror?" Dumbledore changed topics so fast that Lily blinked.

"Yes, sir."

"Hmm… then I have a proposition that might be worth your while. But now is not the time or place. And now, I really must be off. But we must continue this lovely conversation later. Keep reading!" And with that, he swept off.

What an odd man he was, Lily thought, as she walked on.

Her feet led her to the courtyard where her friends had started a snowball fight. Clearing snow off a bench with a flick of her wand, Lily sat down and watched. Occasionally, a stray snowball would find it's way in her direction, and she had fun charming them out of the air.

She sighed, content.

Note: Sorry. Really short chapter. I figured I might as well post it. The next chapter, Amos will come back and then it will all hit the fan blah blah blah.


	22. In which it all hits the fan

DISCLAIMER: nope.

Note: Sorry I'm being really bad about posting! Reviewing helps! Blah blah blah… The hardest part of this chapter, went a little something like this:

Me: OMFG I really don't want to write this part

Me: But I have to!

Me: But Amos is such a $(&)(#*^$)(#*&)$^&#)

Me: Yeah, but Lily doesn't know that!

Me: But I really don't want to write this part!

Me: TOO BAD.

But then I made up for it to us all. So I hope you like it!

Christmas break ended all in a rush. Amos came back, and Lily met him in the entrance hall. Hoping he wouldn't bring James into the conversation, she hugged him and said, "Welcome back"

Amos kissed her and then held her by the shoulders at arms length. Looking into her eyes searchingly, he asked, "Did you think about what I said?"

Lily sighed and rolled her eyes. "Yes."

"It doesn't seem like it had much affect. Are you sure you thought about it?"

Lily glared at him, and grabbed his sleeve, pulling him down a corridor. She soon transferred her grasp to his hand, though. Finding an empty classroom, she pushed him inside and closed the door.

"How could I not think about it? Every time I've so much as said 'hello' to James for the past two weeks I've thought about it! And frankly, I don't think you have a right to make me feel like a guilty child just for talking to my friend!"

"Your friend? Are you sure about that?" Amos said in a patronizing tone.

"What are you on about?" Lily snapped.

"I mean… Potter fancies you." Amos blurted. Lily stared at him.

"Are you mad? Of course he does. But Amos, he's my friend. He hasn't hit on me at all since we started dating."

"Biding his time, is he?" Amos remarked.

Lily blew up.

"'Biding his time'? What's wrong with you! I can look after myself. You're my boyfriend, not my bodyguard! Don't you trust me?"

Amos blinked. "It's Potter I don't trust."

Lily let out an exasperated groan.

"Fine. Then trust me."

"I'll try."

Lily smiled, and allowed herself to be kissed for a while before breaking away.

"We'd better go to dinner."

Amos looked disappointed. "No, really. I have rounds this evening."

It looked like Amos was about to say something, so Lily quickly said, "Trust me."

After a delicious feast, Lily walked up the stairs to the common room. Here she pulled on a fuzzy green sweater to fend off the drafts that haunt every castle, and went downstairs once again to meet James. She wondered what would happen if she told him about what Amos had said. But, she didn't want to make things awkward between them, or cause James to hex Amos. So, she avoided that topic.

"I think I'm ready for that Potions test." She was saying.

James snorted. "Of course you are."

"What do you mean?" She demanded.

"Well, I have this theory… I bet Slughorn would give you an O even if you failed." James teased.

Lily shoved him, smiling.

"Yeah, but you'll probably graduate from auror training before me. Looks like all that pranking is gonna pay off."

"We'll help each other." James said, then stopped.

"What?" Lily asked.

"I though I saw something. Behind that tapestry." James whispered.

"Student?"

"Maybe it's Peeves." He said.

Lily walked over to the tapestry and thrust it aside, revealing a small alcove and…

"Amos!" she exclaimed, stepping back.

"Diggory, you're out of bed." James said.

"What on earth are you doing here?" Lily demanded, but Amos wasn't paying attention.

"What's the idea, Potter?" he demanded.

"What are you on about?" Potter stared back, obstinately.

Lily looked back and forth between them, wide-eyed. She knew what her boyfriend was on about, and she didn't like it. At. All.

"You know bloody well what I'm talking about! Back off from my girlfriend!"

"She can do what she wants! You have no right to lock her up so she can't talk to people!"

"Yes, but you have other plans, don't you Potter?"

"Amos…" Lily began,

"Don't you see Potter? The game's up! I heard you just now!"

"And we caught you out of bed! Got to it!"

"What, so you can go back to… seducing her?"

"It's not like that, Diggory. Now, Get to bed." James ordered, sternly, gritting his teeth."

Amos instead drew his wand, but James was quicker.

Lily drew her own wand, ready to intervene. But rather than hexing Amos, James simply stood there.

"_Impedimenta!" _Amos yelled, but James nonverbally cast a shield charm between them.

"Twenty points from Hufflepuff, Diggory." James said smoothly.

"And another ten for being out of bed." Lily put in, fairly.

"I can see I'm too late! You've already been tricked, Lily! Can't you see? He's lying to you!"

"I can see I was lying to myself. We would never work out. It's over, Diggory. Get back to your common room." Lily said icily, feeling empty inside.

Amos turned red. "You'll see, one day. You'll remember what I said. I won't forget this, Evans. Diggorys are twice the men Potters are. We always win."

"To bed, Diggory." James pointed his wand at Amos.

With one last glare, Lily's ex-boyfriend turned on his heel and strode in the direction of the Hufflepuff common room.

All of a sudden, the emptiness turned into tears. The world went fuzzy as Lily's eyes welled up. Before she realized it, James was there.

"I'm sorry." He said, hugging her.

"No. It's not your fault. It's Amos's."

"Yes, but I'm still sorry."

Lily nodded into his shoulder.

"Thank you." He said after a moment.

Lily lifted her head to stare at him. "Thank you?" she repeated, confused.

"For standing up for me." He replied.

"Oh." Drying her eyes, Lily straightened.

"Don't be silly, Potter. I did no such thing." And she strode off to continue their rounds.


	23. Friends and Darkness

Disclaimer: I do not own HP

Note: okay. I'm going to try to make this chapter a little longer, because people have said in reviews that they'd like that. Unfortunately, this means I won't be able to update as soon, on top of this writer's block that I'm trying to get out of. So I'm sorry, but I'll do my best. Please Review.

Nothing more was said during rounds that day, and when James followed Lily into the common room, he didn't have the chance to say good-night, as she made a beeline for the girl's staircase before he could get the words out. Sighing, he went up to his dormitory and flopped down on his bed, drawing odd looks from his fellow Marauders and Frank Longbottom.

"How did rounds go, Prongs?" Inquired Moony.

"Not bad." James replied, acting casual.

"Did you take any points away from Slytherin?" Asked Padfoot, hopefully.

"Nope."

"Ravenclaw?" the inquiry continued. Sirius, despite loosing countless points from Gryffindor, was highly competitive when it came to the house cup, partially out of animosity towards his Slytherin family, and partly out of his natural Gryffindor loyalty.

"No. They're to smart to be out and about."

"What about Hufflepuff?" Piped up Peter, imitating Sirius as usual.

"Don't be stupid, Wormtail. No Hufflepuff has the balls to be out of bed." Dismissed Wormtail's handsome roll model.

"Actually…" began James, clearing his throat.

"You did?" Moony's interest piqued.

"How many?" Demanded Sirius.

"Who?" Frank Longbottom looked up.

"Yup. I took twenty points, but Evans made it a round thirty." James forced his voice to sound amused. It wasn't hard, with his dorm mates staring at him so.

"Thirty points from Hufflepuff!" Sirius sounded gleeful, "They never get that much taken off."

"Not that they ever get many put on, anyway." Commented Frank.

"Who lost them?" asked Moony.

There was no avoiding it this time.

"Amos Diggory." James said, and waited.

"DIGGORY?" exclaimed Sirius, his face lighting up. "That prat?"

"The one Lily's dating?" Frank asked,

"She took ten points from her own boyfriend?" Of course Moony smelled a rat. (Other than Peter, that is.)

"Yup. The same prat that Lily _was_ dating."

Silence.

"Was?" Moony urged, as the others stared at him. All homework and other occupations were forgotten.

"Yes. She dumped him just now."

"For breaking the rules and being out of bed?" Sirius was incredulous.

"Not exactly…" James hesitated, wondering how much he should tell them.

"Why?" Frank prodded.

"Ask her yourself." James said decisively, pulling out his pyjamas.

And though they pestered him, he didn't say anything. He'd let Lily figure that out. Right now, he had other things on his mind.

Most importantly: Was there a reason Diggory had to be jealous?

Lily left James as soon as they got back to the common room. She had to get away from him. She speed-walked to the girl's staircase and took the stairs two at a time.

"Hey, Lily." Eleanor murmured as she came in. Most of the other seventh year girls were already asleep.

"Hey." Lily said, sitting down on her friend's bed.

"What's wrong?" Eleanor asked, shrewdly.

"… nothing. It's fine."

"But there is something wrong, isn't there?"

"Maybe", whispered Lily, hugging her knees to her chest.

"What happened? Was it Potter?"

"No. It was me… and A—Diggory."

"'Diggory?' Oh, lord, Lily. Did you break up?" Eleanor inched closer.

Lily nodded, as the tears broke free from her control.

"What happened?"

Lily began to explain the events leading up to the winter Holidays. When she got to the events of the evening, she choked. He tears stopped coming. Her throat felt dry.

"And then what?" Eleanor prodded.

"He gave me an ultimatum." Lily croaked.

"What?"

"Him or Potter."

"And you chose Potter?" Eleanor sounded shocked.

"Not exactly. I was just tired of him being a controlling jerk." Lily said, scathingly.

"But you do like Potter more than him." Eleanor went on, doggedly.

"Well obviously. I _hate_ him." Lily stared at her friend like she'd fallen from outer space.

"But you like Potter."

"He's my friend."

"Is that all?"

"Yes!"

"Are you sure that maybe…" Eleanor trailed off.

Lily wasn't sure she liked where Eleanor was going with this.

"What do you mean, Eleanor?" she asked.

"…maybe you love Potter?" Eleanor asked.

"Don't be stupid, Eleanor. Of course I don't love Potter."

At that moment a horrible shrieking sound split the dark air of the dormitory. Eleanor jumped, and Lily nearly fell off of Eleanor's bed.

"Wha—what! What's going on?"

"What time is it?"

The sound had woken their dorm mates.

Lily got up and walked over to her bedside table. There, the sneakoscope's lights were fading as it's tooting decrescendoed into silence.

The rest of their dorm mates were still complaining as they got back into bed.

Lily looked over her shoulder at Eleanor, who was watching her from the bed Lily had just abandoned.

Shaking her head slightly, Lily got ready for bed.

When Lily woke up, she prepared herself to be barraged with questions from her dorm mates about the disturbance that occurred at midnight that night. Instead, there was just the normal sleepy merriment.

Trying to avoid Eleanor, (it wasn't hard. Eleanor was not a morning person,) Lily hurried down to the common room. When she did, Frank Longbottom, Remus Lupin, Sirius Black, and Peter Pettigrew all converged from the other side of the room.

Halting, Lily looked from Frank, who came at her from her right, to Sirius, who had been leaning casually in the doorway to the boy's staircase.

"Hey, Lily. Let's get some breakfast. I feel like a spot of toast, don't you?" James has been waiting for her. Now he came up from behind her, hooked her arm in his, and dragged her out of the common room, leaving his friends and Frank standing in their tracks.

"Thanks." Lily said, feeling a little winded, as they ran down the main staircase, hopping over trick steps, and dodging the odd student of ghost.

Sliding to a stop at the bottom, Lily straightened, grabbing James's hand to keep him from running any more.

"We should be a better example." She told him, panting subsiding. She noticed that his breathing was hardly affected.

"Right. I just figured you'd want to avoid any… awkward questions so far. I wouldn't tell them anything see. I figured you'd better take care of that." He told her.

She squeezed his hand in thanks, and then started for the great hall. Before they reached the doors, James dropped her hand, awkwardly.

Looking at him, she shrugged, and went to find a seat at the Gryffindor table. James sat next to her. Glancing at the Hufflepuff table, Lily saw Diggory glare. Lowering her head so that her hair covered her face, she took a bit of an apple.

The post came, and so did Lily's subscription to the _Daily Prophet_. Rolling it up without looking at it, she shoved it aside.

Presently, Eleanor speed-walked in and took the seat on Lily's right, and Lily smiled her thanks. Flanked thus by friends, she was ready for Sirius by the time he blustered in and sat next to her.

"What's this about Diggory?" he began the interrogation.

"Why so interested, Black?" Eleanor growled, her black bangs falling over her glaring green eyes.

Sirius looked her up and down, and Lily thought she saw a shiver run down Eleanor's back. Did she still like him, or was that a sneer of revulsion curling Eleanor's lip?

"Just curious." He remarked, blandly, turning away from Eleanor.

Lily answered his questions with monosyllabic responses, feeling like if this was already a big deal, she might as well cut the suspense short.

Satisfied at last, Sirius sat back.

"Al right, Evans. Nice work. Soon we'll have you dumping like a pro."

For some reason, James glared at him.

Sirius just smiled innocently. Lily smiled, too. "Eleanor can teach me." She remarked.

Those who were listening in snickered.

"Ouch" murmured someone.

Sirius was about to give some indignant response, but Lily got up and left, Eleanor behind her.

"Thanks for that." Eleanor commented, as they went upstairs to get their things. They had Herbology first that morning.

"My pleasure. So… do you still like him?"

"I can't decide. Is that weird?" Eleanor frowned.

"You're asking the wrong person, El." Lily sighed.

Lily found that she couldn't go anywhere without being flanked by curious friends. After breakfast, Frank and Alice converged. Sofia and Mary also demanded an explanation, during Herbology, but once they found out, they stayed by her side.

After Herbology and Defense Against the Dark Arts, Lily had a break. Eleanor apologetically left her to go to her Arithmancy class, and Sofia had Divination. Alice went to study with Frank in the library, so Lily sat with Potter and his friends.

Lily flipped through her book to look up details about human-to-human transfiguration as James lazily wrote them down from memory.

"Show-off." Lily grumbled, once she had checked to see that Potter was correct.

Having finished their notes, Lily took out the morning's _Prophet_.

James, looking over her shoulder, whistled.

** Werewolf, Giant, and Dementor Attacks Increase. **

**By Harold Belkiss**

Everyone looked up at this. Peter spilled ink on himself. Remus turned white and exchanged glances with James. Even Sirius looked—for once—serious.

Lily read the article out loud and the mood darkened by the minute.

"_This week, there are reports of five werewolf attacks. Top officials at St. Mungo's Hostpital for Magical Maladies and Injuries refuse to give names, but in an official release today, the Minister of Magic informed the press that two were fatal. Rumors of giants have been coming in from all over the southern coast of England, and Muggles and Wizards alike have been noticing a chilly fog that may suggest the Dementors have broken out. People are calling for reforms in the Ministry, and an unnamed source from inside the Minister's office told this reported that a resignation is ahead…"_

Lily looked up. James calmly stood, took the front page from her hands and threw it on the fire. Coming back, he put an arm around her.

"When we're aurors, we'll figure out what's going on. We'll stop it."


	24. FINALLY The battle of stubbornness

DISCLAIMER: If JK Rowling wrote Harry Potter fanfiction, it wouldn't really be fanfiction. So, really, I don't own Harry Potter. If so, I would be so rich I wouldn't need to be writing this or wasting my time. I would be on an airplane to someplace exhotic and awesome right now.

Note: A little Remus, Sirius, and Eleanor POV at the beginning. I'm trying to tie up some of the loose plotlines that I've been leaving hanging for a while in these next few chapters. This should have been posted sooner, but that stupid writer's block keeps coming back. Also, it skips around _**A LOT**_ so sorry if that's confusing. There's a page break in between each POV switch. Thanks for all the reviews! Keep it up! Remember, constructive criticism helps.

Remus John Lupin was not tired. He watched the moon. It was half full. He sighed. Two more weeks of peace. He looked around the dark dormitory at his snoring friends. He noticed that James seemed to be cuddling with his pillow. Then he looked back at the moon. This rumored dark wizard whose name everyone seemed to be avoiding was obviously recruiting werewolves- recruiting, or coercing? Remus didn't know the werewolf who had bitten him, but he knew that he would never purposefully set himself on anyone. That meant he had better be on his guard. What if someone came for him and tried to make him go for people while he was in his mindless wolf-state?

Sirius Black woke up in a foul mood. First of all, he hadn't pulled any pranks recently. Now that James had gone mature and head boy and responsible, he felt like he was being dragged in. He hadn't had a girlfriend all year! Speaking of James, where was he? Sirius looked around. His friend seemed to have gone downstairs without them. Probably to woo Evans, who always got to breakfast early. Sirius shrugged to himself. He didn't mind, really. He knew that James would always be his best friend.

However, if James was stuck on Lily's heels, that meant that he would be stuck nearby, and nearby meant near Eleanor.

People thought he was a tosser, but it was just that he hadn't found the right girl. Sure, maybe he had gone through a phase in fifth year where he went out with a record number of girls, but that was fifth year. Hormones usually ran high in O.W.L. year. He was just misunderstood.

But he just didn't understand Eleanor. Why had she dumped him? He hadn't been fooled by her little James experiment. And he had consequently avoided her. But he'd never ask her. He didn't like to admit it, but his pride had been hurt when she chucked him. Maybe two could play the same game. He smiled to himself. That was one way to solve his problem. And Sofia might even be a good prankster, a sort of Marauder-substitute. Just for a while.

Eleanor was frustrated. She liked Black, but she hated him. It was almost creepy how she was always hyper-aware of his presence. Was she becoming obsessed? She shoveled another piece of waffle into her mouth then checked her schedule. She had Herbology. Great. The greenhouses were usually kept warm even in the winter, but the walk there was not pleasant. Also, Black was in it. After slogging through the deep snow on the muddy, trodden down path, Eleanor joined Mary who already stood outside with the other seventh years, shivering slightly, scuffing her shoes. Sofia and Lily joined her presently, and Alice rushed up at the last minute, just as Professor showed up.

"Big news." She whispered, her round, pretty face glowing.

"What?" Whispered Sofia, eagerly.

Alice smiled widely, but said nothing, her lips pressing together as if barely keeping the words in.

Professor sprout then launched into a lecture about breeding new species of plant, and they were forced to listen. Eleanor noticed that Black didn't think he was under any obligation to listen, and lost Gryffindor five points.

"Now, before I introduce our next project, who can tell me what restrictions the Ministry of Magic has laid down on this subject?" Lily's, Alice's, Frank Longbottom's, and a Ravenclaw, Amelia Bones's hands shot up. Professor Sprout called on Frank, and Gryffindor got their points back when he answered correctly. Soon they were dividing up into pairs, given several piles of seeds, and instructions to sort them (muggle-style) into piles that would, when bred, produce different results.

Eleanor fumbled with the small tentacula seeds, so Alice, with her delicate fingers, did most of the sorting. Here wasn't enough room for all of them at the tray, So Lily dragged Sofia over to one with a couple friendly Ravenclaws, so Mary, Alice, Frank, and Eleanor could work together. Eleanor had frequent chances to look around as Mary took down enough notes for the both of them (though Eleanor hadn't shared this with Mary yet) and Alice and Frank went off on frequent tangents. She saw Black in heated discussion with Potter and Lupin, while Pettigrew hid from the mandrake seeds, which even before planted, were shriveled and squirmy. What was so important, she wondered.

Sirius didn't make his move until after Herbology. His friends cautioned him against it. James reminded him of how it had failed before. Moony held that it would only hurt Eleanor's feelings. Sirius reminded him that that was kind of the point, and ignored his friends when they told him that he wouldn't feel any better afterwards.

"Well, she should have known what she was doing when she dumped me."

"You would have dumped her the next day, anyway."

"So what if I would have?"

With rolled eyes, his friends dispersed.

After Herbology, Alice's friends swooped down on her. Sofia got there first.

"WHAT HAPPENED?" She yelled at the top of her lungs, causing people to stare.

Alice smiled and held up her hand. There, a simple, thin golden ring with no markings except for an embossed heart sparkled.

There was a collective gasp. Mary looked like her birthday had come early. Lily positively glowed with delight. Sofia let off a spastic peal of joyous laughter as Eleanor burst out "Well, it's about time!"

"I'm sure you'll look good as a flower girl, Eleanor! I've already got a dress in mind for you…" Alice teased as Eleanor blanched.

"We'll have to enlarge the aisle, of course." Frank joked, coming up behind Alice and placing a hand on her shoulder.

"Oh! I just remembered! I have a head's meeting with James right now!" Lily exclaimed, hugging Alice and Frank and dashing off.

Mary followed her, for some reason, and Sofia and Eleanor strolled away from the happy couple. Running into the warm entry hall, they rubbed their fingers. Alice and Frank had disappeared, so Eleanor and Sofia were left to walk up the long flights of stairs to the Gryffindor common room.

Sirius Black intercepted them, however.

"Hey, Sofia."

Sofia looked startled at being addressed. "Hey… Sirius." She said, breathlessly. Apparently she still wasn't immune to his charms.

"How'd you like to go to Hogsmead with me?" He said.

As if he was offering her a gift, Eleanor scoffed internally.

"Yeah. Al right…"

Eleanor was dumbstruck, but her face was impassive. It was one of those things where your heart seems to pound once and then stop. She knew what he was doing. And it wasn't going to work. From here on out, until this was over, it was a battle of stubbornness between her and Black. But it wasn't just her she needed to protect. She didn't want Sofia to get hurt, either.

"Hey, Sofia!" Eleanor approached her friend just as she was leaving for dinner in the great hall.

"Hey, Ells. What's up?" Sofia was the only one Eleanor would allow to call her Ells.

"I'm worried."

"About the Sirius thing? Yeah. I figured."

"So, why'd you do it?" Eleanor geared up to get mad.

"I don't nee your approval." Sofia didn't say it angrily.

"I never said you did. But you know he's a toerag."

"A very handsome toerag." Sofia agreed.

"But an arse, nonetheless." Eleanor persisted.

" Yeah. I figure I can get a few good snogs out of him before I toss him. Unless he tosses me." Sofia grinned evilly.

It was then that Eleanor finally caught on. Sofia was going to beat Sirius at his own game.

"Genius." Eleanor whispered.

Sofia grinned. "Of course it is!"

"And the best part is…" Eleanor started excitedly

"That I'll get him back for what a jerk he is to you?" Sofia broke in.

"Yes, but I was going to say that he won't ditch you. He wants to get back at me. If you play it right, he'll be forced to be the clingiest bastard in the world."

Sofia grinned evily.

"I can't wait."


	25. MIssions and Friendship

Disclaimer: Okay, really? This is the 25th time I've had to say that I don't own Harry Potter. Are little publishing ninja minions going to be alerted if I don't put this in here?

Note: Yay! Thanks to the lovely reviewers. I will hopefully be able to update this quicker than last time.

Reality update: Don't count on it.

But, to make up for it, I added some fluff (see author's note at end of chapter)

Lily was happy, for once. Of course, life still wasn't perfect. Eleanor and Sofia were up to something, and she wasn't too sure she liked it. She found that she was spending most of her time with her new friends. Well, James and his friends, really. But Remus had always been a good guy, and Sirius wasn't all that bad, when you got to know him. Lily actually felt sorry for Peter, rather than being disgusted by him as Sofia was. But she wasn't quite happy. Her life had been moving fast, but now things seemed to have slowed down like they were moving through jelly. She began to study in earnest for the NEWTs, a subject that Sirius was constantly reminding her was a sign of utter nerd-dom.

"It's only March!" he exclaimed on one such occasion.

Lily looked up at him over the library table. "What are you even doing here?"

"Looking for Sofia. Have you seen her?"

"No. Why?" Lily was puzzled.

Sirius looked at her strangely. "Can't a bloke go looking for his girl every once and a while?"

Lily rolled her eyes. "Why she goes out with you, I'll never know. Can you seriously imagine Sofia being in the _library_?"

Sirius made a rude remark and strolled out of the library, followed by the watchful eyes of Madam Pince.

James passed him at the door. They stopped, exchanged a few words. James cuffed Sirius lightly on the shoulder. Lily made out the words "You're crazy, Padfoot." Before he came up to her.

"Al right, Lily?" He greeted her as he sat down, with a cocky nod to Madam Pince who glared and swooped away.

"Hi." She greeted him, pushing some books aside.

"Would you like to come down to the lake with us? The giant squid's feeling playful."

"Have you been tickling it again?" She groaned, standing up and looking around as if she expected the castle to collapse around their ears. "You know better! It makes it giddy!"

"Yes, but it's all in good fun. It's not as dangerous as… say…"

"Okay! I don't want to hear about your past scrimmages with danger!"

"Whatever. Come on!" And with that, he swept her books untidily into her bag with a charm.

"Hey!" Lily protested, sealing the ink well at the last minute.

"Whatever. Let's go.

James pulled her outside. "Okay, alright. Just, slow down!" Lily complained, but James sprinted like a deer. Lily guessed that those quidditch mussels were good for something other than making girls swoon.

But Lily was not one to be left behind. Returning his firm grip, she matched his pace. Planning to drop him in the lake, she passed him and began to pull him along. He'd pay for tearing her away from her books!

But James was the superior athlete and it was Lily who landed in the drink. Laughing and sopping wet, Lily sat in the muddy shallows and mock-glared at her assailant.

Once the water had cleared from her eyes she realized that she was not the only one in the water. Spring was coming and it was the first weekend of the warm months. The water was still chilly, but they were witches and wizards, afterall. Casting a simple warming charm on herself, Lily reached up for James' hand and pulled him in.

"I let you do that." James told her, trying to find a dry spot to wipe his glasses.

"_Impervious" _Lily tapped his glasses with her wand.

"Neat." Commented Remus, who was showing more restraint than the others. Sofia and Sirius were tickling the Giant squid as Eleanor looked on, her emotions hidden behind a mask of subtly exaggerated merriment that Lily didn't bother analyzing.

"…water repelling charm?" Remus was saying.

"Oh, come on, book worms. It's Spring!" James said with a giddy smile.

Lily decided he needed to be taken down a notch so she conjured up a wreath of flowers and set them on his head. Then nocked them off with a jet of water she summoned with a flick of her wand.

"Touché." James said, picking up the sopping flowers and vanishing them.

The second spurt of water would have hit them in the eye if not for Lily's previous charm.

Seeing him on the defense at last, Lily thought he looked rather silly and began to laugh.

Seeing her happiness, James though she was the most beautiful thing in the world. (_see author's note.)_

Once Lily had dried off, she went off to do rounds. James needed to be somewhere, so she had agreed to do it by herself. While patrolling a fifth-floor corridor that was often frequented by rule breakers, couples, and others who would find it of interest to be out after hours, Lily had quite a surprise.

"Professor Dumbledore, sir. What are you doing here?"

"We never completed our previous conversation, Miss Evans. I have asked Professor McGonagall to patrol the hallways tonight. Would you do me the honor of stepping into my office?"

Lily accepted, mutely, and followed him down a flight of back steps and down a corridor to the stone gargoyle she knew led to his office.

"Acid Pop" Said Dumbledore and the crouched stone figure sprang aside, respectfully.

They walked to the inner office and faced each other over the desk. A chair sprang from nowhere, and Lily took it.

"Now, you are doubtless aware of the dark things that are cropping up in the Prophet. "

"Yes, sir. They say It's a new dark wizard… the paper never says his name… I heard someone say… V-Voledemort…"

"Yes, the Wizarding world fears his name, for reasons I am oblivious to. However, that works in his advantage."

"His advantage? Sir? What does he want?"

"Control of the ministry, power, to put muggles in their rightful place, what could you expect?" Dumbledore said, in an absent-minded yet cynical way.

"That reminds me of…"

"Grindelwald, yes."

"Then will you duel this V-voldemort?" Lily asked, her curiosity engaged.

"I hope it will not come to that." Dumbledore looked troubled. "But it looks like I will be in luck. For there is a new generation of young wizards to fight with me."

"But what does that have to do with me, specifically?" Lily's brain was whizzing.

"You are of that generation. There are many more. Do you remember Emmeline Vance?" Lily did. Emmeline was a rather smart Ravenclaw who had graduated the year before. She had heard that Vance was now working for the ministry.

"And Dorcas Meadows?" A Hufflepuff a year older than Emmeline who was quickly rising through the ranks of editors in the Daily Prophet.

"Marlene McKinnon?" Lily had fancied herself almost friends with Marlene, a Gryffindor prefect and last year's head girl.

"These young ladies and more have joined my efforts. We call ourselves the order of the Phoenix. And we are doing everything we can to put a stop to the terror. For that is what the world outside of these castle walls is feeling—terror."

"Oh." Lily said, breathlessly. A secret organization of vigilantes. That would send even her imagination going. But Lily pulled herself out of it. The logistics seemed difficult. Someone might blab and that simply wouldn't do.

"How can I join?" She asked determinedly, looking Dumbledore straight in his measuring blue eyes.

"You just have. Now, your rounds should be coming to an end just about now. Your first mission—recruit those you trust, the Head Boy, for instance. But be discreet. No one must know."

James sat with Remus under the tree by the lake. Sirius was off somewhere, (Probably off snogging Sofia.) Peter had detention. Remus was looking better now that the full moon was over and he had actually slept a little.

"So… Padfoot and Sofia…"

"Are totally using eachother." Remus stated blankly. "We've been through this."

"You and Lily…" Remus began, sneakily.

"Are just friends." James intoned and put his head on his crossed arms, propping them on his knees.

"Seriously, mate? I don't think you're trying anymore." Remus said, looking like he regretted his teasing.

"I don't think there's much point in trying." James complained, feeling the desperate sensation in his stomach where it feels like your eyeballs are being digested.

"Wimp." Muttered Remus.

"I'd rather have her as a friend than not at all. Last time, things got awkward. Don't you think I ought to accept my lot?"

"Now you're just feeling sorry for yourself." Commented Remus.

"I'd say I have a right to." James slumped back.

"Whatever. Just, try, okay?" Remus said.

"Would you help me?"

"I am helping you."

"No. I mean, like put in a good word for me."

"No."

"Why not?"

"She should accept you on her own terms."

"Alright. I'll talk to her."

James got up and dusted himself off.

"Not leaving, are we?" Asked Eleanor, dropping her books to James' left and looking past him at Remus.

"Um, actually…" James said.

"No." Remus said, pulling James down beside him.

"Actually, Lily's looking for you." Eleanor told James. "I seek the council of Mr. Moony, here." Remus stiffened at the Marauder epithet coming from someone's mouth, hoping she didn't know what it meant. But Eleanor seemed unaffected.

James hurried off, and Eleanor took his place.

"Something's up with Lily." She said.

"What?" Moony asked, glancing worriedly after James' retreating back.

"I don't know. There's something she's not telling me."

"Well, I don't know, either."

"Oh." They sat in awkward silence for a while.

"I'd better get to studying."

"Okay." Eleanor watched him go, listlessly staring at the lake.

James knew he had a good chance of finding Lily in the library.

He made a much less graceful entrance than last time, and when he sat down, he opened his mouth and prepared to blurt everything out, but what Lily said next made him glad he didn't.

"James, I need to talk to you. " enticed, James looked around.

"Here?" he asked.

James wondered if that seemed a bit… over-eager… but Lily agreed and gathered her things.

Walking side by side, James steered her towards a secret tunnel that he knew of. It led to Hogsmead, but there were also some benches to sit on where they wouldn't be seen or heard.

Shoving his finger up the cow-like gargoyle's noze and pushing the secret button, he ushered Lily inside.

He sat down facing her and waited.

"Dumbledore took me to his office the other night…" Lily began.

James was confused, but listened carefully as Lily explained to him about the Order of the Phoenix.

"Count me in." He said immediately.

"I knew I could count on you."

"Hey, it's like I said. We'll fight together. We'll train to be aurors and have access to reports and everything so we can help the Order."

"Yes. We'll fight together." The idea appealed to Lily greatly. "There's no one I'd rather fight with, James Potter."

James was stunned. How could the most beautiful creature in existence be saying that about him? But as he was trying to form a sufficient reply, Lily was wondering if that was going a bit too far. Quickly, she added, "You're such a good friend."

Author's note: Ooohhh burn. You guys are going to be mad at me for that, but I'm not quite ready, yet. So, about the water-splashing. I thought I'd give you guys some fluff, but I just want to add this to uphold my integrity as an author. I really didn't want to put that in there. I hate ruining funny, loose moments with romance. But it just seemed to fit, so I did. I hope you like it. Please review and tell me what you think about humor and romance interacting. Also, sorry it took so long to get this up. But hey, it's like twice as long as usual…


	26. Reasons and Recruitment

Disclaimer: I got nuthin.

Note: yay… nother chapter… buuuhhh… Sorry it's been so long and it's so short. Life is just moving on. But I'll keep persisting.

Let me know in a review if you'd rather I kept going as I am or I tried to write a little bit more often. Things would go pretty slow but you'd get quicker updates.

Lily was pleased to see that James took the new mission seriously. Of course, he immediately invited his best mates, and they naturally accepted, though Lily saw a flicker of doubt in Remus' eye. Was it doubt? Or perhaps it was just determination. It was sometimes hard to tell with Moony.

Lily had been a bit more restrained in inviting her friends. She had her restraints about Sofia's seriousness, and her decision was set when Sofia pronounced Lily and James' conversation over that morning's head line (Ministry Crisis: Defector Claimed Imperious Curse.) as 'boring'. Lily was certain that Eleanor would be a useful addition, but had yet to run that by James. Alice and Frank, however, they had agreed would be much needed.

"Of course we will." Alice has told her, clasping her friend's fore arms.

"No, we won't." Frank said, placing his hands on Alice's shoulders.

The two women looked at him.

"I don't like the idea of you putting yourself at risk like that, Alice."

"No way are you going to stop me, Frank Longbottom."

Lily stood there awkwardly as they stared into each other's eyes.

"We'll all go through auror training." She put in. "Alice will be more than prepared. Besides, you will probably be together on most missions."

Frank had to acquiesce and Lily left them as Alice flung her arms around Frank. Snogging seemed to be in their near future, but Lily had other things to do.

Leaving the secret alcove behind the tapestry of a witch stirring a cauldron, Lily returned to the common room but did not stay long, as she and James left for rounds.

As they turned a corner somewhere on the fourth floor, something occurred to Lily.

"Hey, what were you going to tell me, when I told you about… you know…"

James didn't respond at first. After Lily's comment about friendship, he had wondered what to do. Telling her now would make things awkward between them and jeopardize their ability to work together.

"I just wanted to know… why you hated me all those years." James said, and then shut his mouth, embarrassed. He hadn't meant to say something that arrogant.

Lily was a little disappointed. She had hoped for something less... or maybe more… she didn't know. But instead she answered truthfully. "I don't know. I guess it's because you were an arrogant bully, but in all honesty, you're still quite arrogant, and I like you fine now." Lily winced at the clumsy wording of what she's just said, but carried on. "I guess I just wanted to hate you."

James wasn't sure how to react, so he filed it away to think about later and instead said "Oh. Er, I mean, thanks for telling me. I guess I should work on the arrogance."

Lily smiled "Well, admitting you have a problem is the first step. But honestly, a bit of self-certainty never hurt anybody."

James smiled. She really was amazing. He felt like his brain would explode if he kept this in much longer.

Lily wondered when she had started hating him. It may have been when they first met and he was mean to Severus. But he was right about Snape, Lilly reflected. He was a greasy little git. Admittedly, he had been immature. But weren't all thirteen year olds? Maybe she had been hard on him.

"Well, since we're having this heart to heart, why did you hate Sev—Snape?" James' face had darkened at the mention of Snape's first name.

James tried to think of something meaningful and epic sounding to say, but was blanking out. "I guess I was—jealous?" James said, uncertainly.

"Jealous of what? Snape has a horrible life. His parents argue all the time, and no one likes him." Lily stopped short. She wasn't sure why she said that.

James hadn't known about Snape's parents, but it didn't melt him in the least. Sirius had an unhappy life at home, but he had made his choice.

"Jealous of… your friendship I guess." James was careful not to mention crushes or romantic intentions. "Guess I don't have to worry about that anymore, eh?"

Lily looked a little troubled, so James quickly apologized. "No, it's fine." Lily assured him.

They wandered in silence for a moment. When they passed the hospital wing, Lily was reminded of Lupin, who was often sick.

"Why did Lupin seem so… uncertain about joining the… Care of Winged Magical Creatures Club?" She asked.

James smiled at her euphemism for the Order.

Remus was terrible at hiding his feelings from the other Marauders, and James and Sirius had guessed what was bothering their friend because he winced whenever he looked at them in the days leading up to the last full moon. He had acted similarly back in the days before they had known he was a werewolf. Around fifth year, when they had finally became animagi, he had stopped, but when he had started again, it was obvious what he was thinking; Moony thought he was dangerous, a weapon to be used for Voldemort.

James didn't think his friend would thank him for revealing his secret to Lily.

"Why don't you ask him?" James said, trying to sound as un-suspicious as possible. Lily was a smart girl, so she didn't fall for it, but he hadn't let anything on, either.

There was no time to talk now, as they had both heard the unmistakable sounds of snogging coming from behind a statue of an old warlock.

After busting up the pair of third year Ravenclaws, they descended some stairs and had to send some very nasty Slytherin fifth years back to their dorms after several shield charms, about forty points deducted, and a well-executed charm from James that pushed the naughty students backwards without harming them.

"Not the best technique, but effective." Lily commented.

"I probably shouldn't have attacked them, but they weren't listening. We're not supposed to use magic as punishment."

"We'll write up a report to McGonagall and see what she thinks about it."

James gave a relieved sigh. "I'm glad you were there."

"Same."


	27. Victories

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.

Note: I read another Fanfic's writer explain this very well: I lost all my plot bunnies.

Spring was catching on and Lily and James had their hands full on a regular basis. James, being quidditch captain, was often exhausted during rounds, but stuck with it. In return, Lily did most of the paper work.

"You're the best, Lily." James said one day, collapsing on the couch in the common room while Lily drew up a new patrol schedule. He was still in his Quidditch robes after a pre-game practice.

Lily smiled as James began to snore. After posting the patrol schedule on the notice board of the prefect's bathroom, the place where all prefects were bound to visit within twenty four hours, she stopped by the kitchens, having been informed of their presence in fifth year when she became a prefect. Getting two mugs of tea and a platter of fruit and crackers, she brought them back to James. She shook him gently to wake him up, and gave him the tea. It was hot and black, and woke him up pretty quick. She them set the snacks out and began to help her exhausted friend finish his charms paper, in the meantime working on Transfiguration (Something that James could help her with, even while tired.)

After ordering him to bed, ("You're going to be one hell of a mum, Evans.") Lily went to get ready for bed. She was worried that James was stressing a little too much about quidditch, though she knew of several mischievous characters who would be appalled by her lack of interest in the sport. She went to the occasional game to support Gryffindor, but that was all. She didn't fly more than decently, but rather preferred her books.

She smiled when she remembered James' teasing, "You're going to be one hell of a mum". Her treatment of James wasn't exactly maternal. She just wanted him to be okay. If he worked like this once he was out of school, with Auror training and the Order, she'd have to be there to make sure he was okay. How funny it was that they had come so far from her hating him and him loving her to this middle ground of friends for life.

James collapsed on his bed without changing clothes, and in his last few thoughts, he thought about Her. Then, he slept.

James woke up the next day, game day, with a smile on his lips. He didn't know why until he saw Lily. He grinned even wider when he found her waiting for him in the common room, dressed in the house colors and with her matching red hair tumbling past her shoulders.

"You look ready." She commented as they turned towards the portrait hole.

"Thanks to you." James commented.

"Ready for the game, Captain?" Sirius asked, catching up with them on the grand staircase.

"Ready for the victory." James said.

"Slytherin's going down. We're neck and neck for points." Sirius explained to Lily. "Whoever wins this game wins the cup."

Lily nodded gravely and glanced at James. "It's in the bag. He's been working that hard."

James smiled at her. They ate breakfast, and James cheerily led the team to the locker rooms.

"You are having way too much fun." Complained Michelle.

"With that attitude, we'll have to add a few letters to your name and call you McGonagall. " James teased as he ducked into the captain's office to change.

"Never heard that one before." Grumbled Michelle.

James hadn't prepared his prep talk, but spouted some optimistic stuff.

"Perfect conditions. It's not too bright. It's still early, so the fog might still be around. Sam, don't just circle. Also explore different levels to get the full perspective. Beaters, stay low. Chasers, we'll pull ahead right away using that formation we used last practice. Oh, and Andy, watch the right hoop more. I don't care if you're left handed. The Slytherin chasers aren't."

"You got it, Sir." Andy acknowledged.

They marched out onto the pitch and the captains shook hands. The whistle blew, and a large, brutish Slytherin chaser rushed aggressively for the Quaffle.

"Hector DeRoan takes the Quaffle right away. Oh, I say!" The announcer exclaimed in surprise, because all three Gryffindor chasers had rushed him.

"Er… Higgs Takes the Quaffle. Now Gonagall. Now Potter—GOAL! Ten nil to Gryffindor." The announcer struggled to keep up as the chasers seamlessly moved the Quaffle down the field. The game progressed, and ten minutes in, the Gryffindors already had a thirty-point lead.

Lily watched from the stands. Sirius tried to point out the finer points of the play to her, but kept jumping up every time something of interest happened. Eleanor pushed him out of the way and took over, and Remus added input.

"Where's Sofia?" Lily asked when the game lulled.

"Sitting over there, with Frank and Alice." Eleanor pointed.

"Not with her boyfriend?" Lily asked.

"Naw, they broke up."

"Really?" This was the first Lily had heard of it.

"Apparently Sirius isn't as good a snogger as everyone thinks he is." Eleanor grinned wickedly.

"I wasn't really trying. She wasn't really into me." They hadn't known Sirius had been listening. She was still on his feet, black eyes gazing hawk-like over the field.

"Why didn't you toss her, then?" Lily asked, interested.

"There's no pleasure in that. What the—" Sam had gone into a steep dive.

"It's not real. He's imitating Wronski. The Grodzisk Goblins won the world cup this year because of him."

Sirius took his eyes off the game to look at her in surprise. "How do you know that?"

"I was there. I have relatives in Poland."

"Awesome! Is it true that his opponent hit the ground?"

"See for yourself." Eleanor gestured toward the game.

The Slytherin seeker—a ferrety git named Parkinson—crashed into the ground.

"He wouldn't have made the team again next year, anyway." Sirius commented.

"Just watch." Remus said.

Sam shot back into the sky, looking around. Then, he was off like a shot.

"HE'S CAUGHT THE SNITCH! GRYFFINDOR WINS, ONE HUNDRED AND EIGHTY POINTS TO ZERO!" The stands went wild. No house had won any single game by such a huge margin in decades.

Gryffindor flooded the field and hoisted the team on their shoulders. Sirius, Remus, and Peter conjured fireworks that lit up even the mid-morning sky.

James could see the whole crowd from his vantage point on the shoulders of his housemates. He could see Lily pushing her way through the crowd and beaming at—him. His heart leapt. In a feeling of recklessness, he jumped down from his perch and made his way to her. Instinctively, He seized her hands.

"Will you go out with me?" He yelled above the crowd. His heard felt both buoyant and constricted, as if it wore a life vest and was floating in a vast, deep lake.

Lily reacted instinctively. A reckless grin spread over her face. Their mouths collided. The Gryffindors around them cheered louder, and the two pulled apart.

"We did it, mate! We did it!" Sirius pounded James on the back.

James grinned at Lily. "We sure did."

Note: Dun dun dun…. You're welcome! I probably won't do too many chapters, now that they're together.


	28. One step at a time

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, etc.

Note: I just realized that this story is about to get to 100 reviews. Pretty good for twenty-eight unplanned, edited-as-I-go, short, infrequently updated chapters! Thanks to everyone who has reviewed and made me feel special. Honestly, half of my inspiration has come from you guys. I write for you. I hope you enjoy this chapter, but please note that any romantic writing is not from experience, so I apologize if it's not very good.

Also, just to make this the longest author's not ever, I'd like to amend that statement from the last chapter about not doing too many more. I realized there are a lot more plotlines that still need to be tied up. I am beginning to formulate these, but the main momentum of the story is over. When I started this story, I had no idea where anything was going, except that it was LE/JP. I hope you like this chapter!

After the Game, Lily and James had taken a very long 'walk' along the lake. They talked some, but mostly they just held hands and enjoyed each other's presence.

Okay. They snogged a lot.

James couldn't believe his luck. Finally. He couldn't stop grinning. Now that he had her here, now, he knew that he would die if he had to let go.

Lily forgot everything that had happened beforehand. She was very glad there were no classes that day, or else she surely wouldn't have been able to pay attention. The only thing on her mind was James. She liked the way he smelled. And his scarlet Quidditch robes were very becoming. When he held her close, she felt the hard muscles and she heard his breathing. She felt safe.

James' mind was racing. They sat under a tree and looked out at the lake. He leaned over, and kissed her again. "Marry me." He begged.

Lily laughed. "One step at a time." She said, ruffling his hair for him.

Back in the Gryffindor common room, the party was louder and crazier than usual. Sirius and anyone who was idiot enough to join him downed so much butter beer that they became actually drunk.

Eleanor watched from a couch as they staggered around the common room. Sofia plunked herself down beside Eleanor.

"You dumped him?"

"He wasn't being any fun." Sofia said, though her clear eyes flashed.

"How so?" Eleanor prodded.

"He knew I was using him just like he was using me. It doesn't work like that. "So much for getting him back. Maybe we just ought to hex him. A well aimed reductor charm… and well… his shagging days are over."

Sofia laughed so hard she nearly wet herself. Eleanor steadied her, chuckling.

"A little too much Butterbeer?"

"Nope. Sirius stole something stronger and put it in every drink but the pumpkin juice. I didn't find out until it was too late, so I guess I'm a little tipsy."

Eleanor winced and pushed her glass of butterbeer away. She strongly disliked pumpkin juice, but was in no mood to get drunk.

"Perhaps we can re-decorate his dorm. Violent pink, barf orange, or Slytherin colors?"

"Then we're punishing all the people who live there. Poor Frank."

"Or we could transfigure his pillow into… something?" Eleanor was running out of ideas.

"Or we could slip him a love potion."

"For who? Pettigrew?" Eleanor snorted.

"No. You." Sofia murmured.

"Hell no." Eleanor retorted, a little too loudly. "We've resolved this. He's an asshole, and I've given up on him." She lowered her voice.

"That's where the potion comes in."

"It won't make him less of an asshole."

"True. Maybe we could ask Remus."

"I never thought that he was the mastermind behind their pranks." Eleanor glanced across the room to where Remus supervised the proceedings; occasionally glancing up from his book to make sure Sirius hadn't broken anything yet.

"He's not, but he understands Sirius." Sofia defended herself.

"Oh really?" Eleanor watched as Remus shook his head as his friend made a fool of himself.

"Just go talk to him, El. He'll know."

Willingly, Eleanor got up and made her way across the room, dodging boisterous Gryffindors.

"Hi, Remus. Mind if I sit?" She gestured to the seat next to him.

"Sure. What's up?" He had to raise his voice over the ruckus.

"Well, I'm sure you'll be discreet about this, but Sofia and I owe Sirius big-time." Eleanor said dryly.

"Certainly." Remus said with a strait face. "You need advice as to what he would most… appreciate?"

"Precisely. We want to make sure he gets what he's due without inconveniencing people such as yourself."

"Might I suggest you surprise him with something practical? Sirius uses numerous products on his hair and skin." Remus looked down at his book.

"Is that so?" Eleanor's mouth twitched. "Well, we can certainly help him in his quest to be… noticed. I dare say you're a genius, Lupin." She clapped him on the back and made her way back to Sofia.

"Remus says to mess with his toiletries." Eleanor snickered. "Hairgel, Face cream, all that."

"He doesn't use that stuff." Sofias eyes widened. Eleanor noticed that the tankard she had discarded was significantly emptier than it had been.

"He does." Eleanor said over her friend's peals of laughter.

That night, Lily distractedly got ready for bed, thinking about her past—how things had worked out so beautifully this year, despite all expectations. She also thought about her future—With James there, she felt like she had the strength to withstand anything Auror training or the Order might throw at her. But what if something happened to James? The idea had never occurred to her until now. She'd have to use the extra strength he gave her to protect him, and what they had together.

James was also distracted. It occurred to him that all his dreams had come true in one blissful day—he had won the Quidditch cup and Lily Evans' heart. It also occurred to him that he had proposed. But not really. They hadn't even gone on a date yet. He planned to make their first date special. There was a Hogsmeade trip just before Easter holiday. James could already plan it. He and the other Marauders were all staying for the Holiday, as were Frank, Alice, Lily, Eleanor, and Sofia. Mary was going home. He looked forward to it. Years ago, as a fifth year with a little crush, he had imagined graduating with her, staying with her, marrying her, and having children with her. And now, he knew he could graduate with her, if not more. As for living staying with her, he knew he had to. Not just because it might cause him physical pain to be away from her, but also because their lives outside of Hogwarts were about to become a lot more dangerous.

Sirius was too drunk to notice Prongs' change in attitude, but Remus was acutely aware of it. "Good game, mate." He said quietly, sitting down on his friends bed.

"Wha—oh. Yeah." James agreed, his hands locked behind his head.

"What happened?" Remus had his suspicions, but he wanted to hear it from James.

Prongs closed his eyes, remembering. "I asked Lily." Remus grinned. "She said yes."

"And?"

"And I never want to let go." James said, oblivious to the cliché.

"Understandable. But uh… can I talk to you about the Order?

James sat up, focusing. "Yeah. What's up?"

"My… uh… furry little problem… I think it'll get in the way. You've read the news."

"Remus John Lupin, don't even think like that." James put a hand on his friend's shoulder. "The marauders wouldn't be the same without Moony. The Order won't be the same without you. You're one of the smartest students in Hogwarts, and you know more about Dark creatures than any of us. The order needs someone with your skills… and maybe even your 'connections.' You won't turn on us." James said it with such conviction that the tension went out of Remus' shoulders.

"I'll try not to let you down." Remus said.

"You won't." James said.

Eleanor and Sofia waited until all the Gryffindors had gone down to breakfast. Then, they snuck up the stairs to the boy's dormitory. No one stopped them on their way, but they had a cover story ready. They would tell everyone that they were looking for Remus.

Seeing several bottles on Sirius' bedside table, they picked them up one by one. The bottle labeled "Face" they hexed so that whoever used it would break out in boils. The bottle labeled "Hair" they added a potion from Zonkos that would cause the hair to stand up straight. The bottle of cologne they diluted with a strong swelling solution. Recapping the bottles and replacing them exactly, they were startled by someone stomping up the stairs. But Eleanor and Sofia were professionals. Their pranks weren't as loud as the marauders' and were often attributed to their male counterparts when they were discovered, but they had developed skill over the course of their years at Hogwarts. Sofia dropped and rolled until she was under Frank's Bed. Eleanor rolled the other way, under Sirius's. Sirius entered and flopped down on his bed. Luckily, the bedsprings hid Eleanor's grunt. The girls made eye contact and stayed there. With Sirius, Remus, and Peter all in the room, they were well and truly trapped. There was a scuffle as Remus dropped something on the floor in between Frank's and Sirius's beds. He noticed Eleanor but didn't react as he picked up his book.

"Are you guys done with McGonagall's essay?" He asked, Sitting on his own bed.

"Yes." Sirius said, as Peter said "No."

"Honestly, Peter?" Sirius started to tease, but Remus interrupted.

"Get it done, Peter. In the meantime, Sirius, up for a game of Chess?"

"Sure. Why not." Sirius followed his friends downstairs.

Eleanor and Sofia waited a second, before creeping downstairs. Remus had positioned his friends facing away from the door to the dormitory. Eleanor and Sofia blended into the crowd of girls coming up from breakfast to get their bags.

"We have time to go down to the kitchens. It's on the way to Herbology, anyway." Sofia told Eleanor, her stomach growling.

"Sure."

The two headed down to the kitchens to beg a breakfast from the house elves, eager to see how long it took Sirius to re-do his hair or face. They alone knew the antidotes for that specific brew. They picked up a slice of chocolate cake and transfigured a plate into a box. It would find it's way into Remus's bag over the course of the day as a thank-you.

With full stomachs, they made their way to Herbology.

That evening, Eleanor and Sofia were working their way through all the homework McGonagall had given them after they turned in their latest papers on creating your own elemental transfiguration spells.

"BLOODY HELL!" came the yell that they'd been waiting for all day. Peter ran downstairs and whispered to James, who was sitting beside Lily on the couch by the hearth.

James whispered something to Lily, who laughed, as he stood up and followed Peter up the stairs.

Everything was going according to plan. Sofia went to the window and held out an owl treat for her owl, Cracker. The barn owl swooped onto her arm, grabbed the owl treat, and held out his leg. Eleanor joined her and fastened the note they had prepared to its leg. Then, they waited.

James followed Peter up the steps, and nearly pissed himself when he saw his friend. Padfoot's head was the size of a melon, and his face was covered in angry purple boils. His hair stood out from his head at a right angle to his scalp.

"Ni—Nice new look, Pads." James gasped out in between hoots of mirth.

"Ha. Ha." Sirius's voice was nasal, due to his oddly proportioned head.

Just then, a barn owl tapped at the window. Peter shrank back, scared of this natural predator of rodents, and Sirius refused to go to the window, so James received the message.

_Sirius, or should we say, Melon Head:_

_Consider this payback. If you want your smirking, handsome face back, meet us on top of the Astronomy tower in one hour. We know that your mate is Head Boy. He can bend the rules just this once._

_Sincerely, The queens of Pranking. _

James finished reading.

"You won't turn us in, Mate?" Sirius begged. "I can't live like this."

"I'd have to ask Lily… I can't hide this from her."

"Please, Prongs?"

"Hold on." James raced downstairs.

"Lily, you have to come and see this." James pulled her upstairs.

Lily protested but stopped short when she saw Sirius. And burst out laughing.

"I—I know I shouldn't—whoever did this—pure genius—big trouble—" She could hardly speak from laughing.

"It gets better." James said, and handed her the letter.

Lily looked at it seriously.

"Take the cloak." She told Sirius, and exited.

"There you are, Mate." James said, running after Lily.

When she got to the bottom of the stairs, she leaned against him.

"I don't know whether to laugh or scream." She confided.

"I understand that Sirius looks quite gruesome…" James began, and Lily chuckled.

"It's not that. It's that I recognize that handwriting." Lily told him.

"Really? Who?" James prodded.

"I'll tell you later. Come on. We have homework, and rounds start in half an hour."

Fifteen minutes after Lily and James left for rounds, Eleanor and Sofia left for the astronomy tower. They were dressed in their prankster clothes—namely, all black. They didn't go for the cliché masks. They were true badasses. Yet they never figured out how Sirius and James had always managed to disappear. In any case, Eleanor and Sofia had mastered the disillusionment charm almost as fast as Lily. They were waiting at the Astronomy tower with a camera and the antidotes when they heard Sirius's footsteps on the stone steps. They hadn't expected him to be visible—they assumed he used a disillusionment charm as well. When he threw off the cloak, they were surprised, but Sofia recovered first. She snapped the picture and quickly hid the camera.

Sirius blinked as the flash blinded him. When he could see and he realized who had pranked him, he glared.

"Give me the antidote." He growled.

Eleanor ignored him as she and Sofia examined their handiwork.

"The hair's a nice touch, but what if he went bald next time?"

"Give it to me!" He growled.

"Fine." Eleanor tossed him the vial of antidote for the swelling as Sofia dumped the solution that would fix the hair on his head.

"And the boils." He demanded.

"Hm… Looks like someone forgot who's calling the shots here." Eleanor said to Sofia.

"Maybe we should keep him like that." Sofia replied smoothly.

"Please?" Sirius begged.

"Not a chance." Eleanor said as Sofia snapped another picture.

"What do you want me to do? Get down on my knees?" Sirius said, desperately.

"Good idea. Do it." Eleanor commanded, ruthlessly.

Sirius did so with a glare.

"So, we're even?" Sirius asked from the ground.

"Are we?" Sofia asked Eleanor.

Eleanor considered.

"Yes." She preformed the counter-hex and held out a hand to Sirius. He took it and she pulled it up.

Sirius didn't seem to want to let go, but Eleanor let it drop as if discarding a candy wrapper.

"Let's get out of here." She told Sofia, as she disillusioned herself.

Sofia followed suit and they left.

Back in the girl's dorm, Sofia and Eleanor sat on Sofia's bed and discussed their revenge.

"I think it worked. Did you see him beg?"

"Yes. I also saw him hold your hand for a bit too long."

"Bullshit, Sof."

"No, really. I think so. But you're even now, so you have to be nice."

"I will be if he is. If he's a cocky bastard, I can't help but reprimand him."

"You only see him as a cocky bastard because that's what makes you pay attention. He has his moments."

"Shush." Mary Grumbled from the next bed over.

"Go to sleep, Eleanor." Sofia told her, pushing her off of the bed.

"G'night, Sofia."

Note: Holy crap, longest chapter I've done. Summer boredom, I guess… Enjoy!


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